Vigilante
by Peter Smith
Summary: Eighth story in the 'Junior Ranger' series. When the Rangers leave town on a rescue mission, a powerful vigilante makes their presence known in the city, forcing the Rangers to consider their own mission if they want to stop his murderous rampage.
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes – welcome to the eighth and last story in the series. This story takes place one week after the events of 'Shades of Grey'. This is pretty much my definitive story, how I see the Rangers and superheroes in general, so I really hope you enjoy. Without any ego, this is my favourite out of the whole bunch, the best I've written.

It is a murder mystery, but not in the Agatha Christie sense where you start off with a list of suspects and narrow them down one-by-one. It's more of a "Profiler" style mystery, where the suspects are everybody but the clues point you to who the killer is likely to be. And between every chapter is an interlude, where we see what's happening in the wider world around the team, you'll see what I mean when we get there. Anyway, enjoy.

**Chapter One**

Even though he couldn't remember it, Timur Ansari was sure that sometime this afternoon, he must have fallen asleep. Perhaps he was lying beside the well three blocks from his mud-brick home and resting his head on the overturned bucket, or maybe he'd been keeping watch on his family's herd of goats and had briefly escaped the day's heat in the shade of a tree. But wherever he was, he knew that he had to have been asleep.

It was the only way he could explain the nightmare happening around him.

He'd been sitting by the front door that afternoon waiting for his eldest brother Kheirudden to return home from school, the same as usual. Kheirudden was the only child the family could afford to send to school, and Timur always listened when Kheirudden came home and told them about his day. With the work that always needed doing, Timur had little time to himself as it was, but without exception, he spent every spare moment he had asking Kheirudden about the school and the things that happened there.

But as Timur sat waiting, his father came to find him, handing him a list of supplies and asking him to take it to Zahir at the nearby street market. If he hurried, he'd make it home at the same time as Kheirudden, and as his father watched with a proud smile, Timur quickly ran off on his errand. It was a beautiful afternoon; the sun was shining, the sky was clear, and sounds of the city echoed around him. Timur was familiar with the northern outskirts of the city of Taloqan - he'd lived in the same neighbourhood all his life, after all - and made good time crossing the dusty streets.

He rounded the corner leading to the market with a cheerful smile. The man who lived on the corner, Ramazan Taraki, was a long friend of the Ansari family and also owned a dog, the friendliest dog in town Timur had once told his brothers. But as Timur scanned the side of the road, expecting to see the animal standing by the curb and wagging its tail, his smile fell - the dog wasn't there. He turned to the house and spotted the animal, crouching beneath a scraggly willow tree and whimpering in obvious distress, the hair along the dog's neck standing on end and his ears flat against his skull. Curious, Timur approached the animal, but the dog only gave a pitiful yelp and shrank back into the shadows.

'That's strange', Timur thought, glancing back to the dirt road. 'What could have happened to him?'

Behind him, a flock of screeching birds suddenly exploded out of a large tree, and Timur clamped his hands over his ears at the sheer noise of the commotion. Spinning around to see what was happening, he saw that the birds had not risen up into the sky, but were instead flapping madly around the tree, violently smashing into each other, scores of them tumbling to the ground even as he stood watching.

And Timur had exactly three more seconds to contemplate this bizarre scene when it happened.

The earth beneath his feet began to shudder, almost imperceptibly at first but rapidly gaining in momentum. It felt almost as if a convoy of tanks was rolling towards him, but he glanced around and saw that the road was still empty. Even as he stood puzzled, the shuddering became more forceful. Pebbles on the ground were dancing crazily, all around him buildings were shaking and windows were shattering, and the noise of what sounded like distant thunder suddenly became an earth-shattering roar.

There came a great 'crack' and the tree across the street crashed to the ground only metres from where Timur stood, but the boy was rooted to the spot. Behind him, Ramazan Taraki's house shook itself to pieces and tumbled to the dirt. The entire world was shaking, the ground itself _alive_. The houses and buildings along the street were collapsing into piles of stone and rubble, and screams filled the air from the people trapped within. Even the distant peaks on the horizon were shaking themselves apart, the great cliffs crumbling before Timur's eyes. There were people in the street now, running and screaming, shoving past him in a blind, futile panic. A sudden lurch as a block of apartments a street away was reduced to rubble, and Timur's feet were swept out from under him.

The boy hit the gravel with a single, terrified thought - it was the end of the world.

But just as quickly as they began, the tremors began to slow. The earth gave one final lurch, and then was still. Timur slowly climbed to his feet, his body aching all over, the pain only now catching up to him, and glanced around at the world now facing him.

Every building around had been leveled. The stone and mud dwellings had collapsed and crushed their occupants in a tangle of rubble. Every house and apartment block, every store and barn, there was nothing left of them but twisted ruin. Pained screams and the unmistakable smell of smoke filled the air. A huge dust cloud hung over the remains of Taloqan, and he could feel death in the air, hunting. The ground had shaken for less than a minute, but the devastation had been almost total.

Which is why Timur knew he was asleep. This simply could not be real.

But as he spun around on the spot, gazing in disbelief at everything around him, he could clearly make out the screams of the crushed and dying around him and the slow crackle of flames nearby, could clearly see weakened structures still collapsing amid clouds of dust, and could smell the smoke filling the air.

Soft brown eyes filled with tears as the truth struck home - this _was_ real.

His first and only thought was to find his family, to return to his brothers and parents. Looking around wildly, he couldn't remember where he was, his mind was blank. Every landmark he'd normally use to navigate the streets was gone, every house and every spire. Helplessly lost and wild with panic, he began to run. He had no sense of direction, no idea where he was going or even what he was fleeing from, but he ran as hard as he could. Past piles of colourless stone, past twisted and uprooted trees, past streets lined with rubble, past screaming people soaked in blood. There had to be a way out, some kind of escape, but no matter how far he ran, he couldn't find it. Every blind turn took him deeper into the maze.

The sun was hanging low in the sky by the time Timur came to a stop, completely out of breath, in front of the one building he'd seen today that hadn't collapsed. The temple stood defiant in the face of the destruction around it, casting a long shadow over the street below. But as Timur caught his breath, he realised that he'd come to a stop beside a landmark he recognised. Not only that, he was sure he could make his way home from here as well.

As he turned to leave, the ground began to shake again. The boy's eyes went wide, and every person on the street began looking up and around in fear. But as Timur glanced along the darkening street, he realised it felt different this time. Rather than starting softly and building to a destructive crescendo, the pounding was far more rhythmic, like the footsteps of a giant. An old man gasped in sudden shock a few steps behind him, and Timur turned to face whatever new terror was descending on a city that had already seen too many. But immediately catching sight of the disturbance - and it was utterly impossible to miss - he couldn't help but gape at the most incredible thing he'd ever seen in his life.

Three enormous beasts were making their way into the destroyed city, seemingly straight towards him, crossing entire streets with every step and towering over everything they passed. As they approached, Timur could see they looked to be more machine than animal, their metal skin reflecting the dancing flames from the burning buildings they passed. The beast on the left shone with a silver hide and looked down over the city through glowing red eyes. The creature in the centre, the largest of the three, had red and silver skin with a pair of blue eyes set above a long snout, while the third was mostly green and black, with strange claw-like designs along its chest and legs, and it too had glowing red eyes.

They were frightening, but Timur wasn't afraid. Watching them in awe, he recalled something he'd once heard from a fair-haired traveller, about otherworldly beings made of light who looked down watching from a great height.

'But they couldn't be,' he thought. 'That was just a story...'

Tramping through the destroyed city, the three machine-beasts came to a stop only a short distance away from the temple, and completely at a loss over what to make of them, the citizens fearfully hung back. Without warning, beams of light shot from the heads of the beasts, and a group of brightly-coloured figures appeared on the street below in a sudden blinding flash of light.

The eleven of us materialised on the street beneath the zords and were immediately lost for words. Surveying the destruction, the utter chaos facing us on all sides, I turned to my fellow Power Rangers in a state of shock. On the way into the city we'd seen barely a handful of buildings still standing after the fury of the earthquake, and a firestorm was already consuming the southwest corner of the city where the majority of the wooden buildings once stood. I thought it could not possibly get any worse, but here, face-to-face with the carnage, it was suddenly all too much to handle.

The sounds, the smell, the sheer devastation, I couldn't help but feel death itself had been unleashed...

No. I caught myself. Not death. Not while we were here.

"What should we do?" asked Teresa in a hushed voice, turning to the group. "Where do we even...begin to start?"

"I know," whispered Ian. "This is just..." but his voice trailed away.

I turned to Jason, knowing his mind would already be working overtime. Glancing from end of the city to the other, Jason forced the horrors of the wreckage from his mind, and tried his best to concentrate. This was no different to any other mission, and three questions needed answering - what was happening around him, what needed doing, and what took the highest priority? A second of observation gave him the answers he needed, and he turned to the rest of us with a confidence that was nothing short of inspiring.

"Okay," he began, speaking as calmly as if he was reading a shopping list. How on Earth did he do it? "Kimberly's helping the UN organise the rescue effort, and she's probably already on her way. Ian," and Jason turned to the Grey Ranger and pointed across to the glow in the distance, "those fires will make this entire mission a waste of time unless you stop them right now. I don't care how you do it, but put them out."

"On it," Ian replied, and he sprinted back to the Iguanodon.

"Tommy," Jason continued, turning to the Green Ranger beside him and knowing that he had to be careful - too much strain and Tommy's powers would fail him. "The only major road into the city was blocked when that mountain pass collapsed. Take the Dragonzord, do you what have to, and clear it."

Tommy nodded, and immediately followed Ian back towards the zords. Within seconds, the Iguanodon and Dragonzord had roared to life, and wheeling around on the spot, they charged away towards their respective destinations.

Watching them go, Zac turned back to Jason. "What about the rest of us?"

"Search and rescue," the Red Ranger replied. "We'll work in teams of three, starting here and spreading out across the city. Teresa, you'll be with Peter and I. Sarah, Billy and Scott, you guys can start one street over, and Zac, Trini and Brendan, I need you three to..." but Jason stopped mid-sentence, suddenly noticing a young boy stepping out of the shadows and cautiously approaching the team. He couldn't have been any older than seven or eight, his clothes were torn and blood-stained, and his face was smeared with dirt and tears. His eyes showed only tragedy.

Seeing him, we all reached down and quickly tapped the devices attached to our belts. Billy had called them 'universal language translators', and Alpha had explained how they worked back in the Command Centre, something about localising brainwaves, I think, although I couldn't repeat it if I tried.

"Hey there," said Trini, as the boy glanced from Ranger to Ranger. "What's your name?"

For a second, he appeared to have trouble with his voice. "Timur," he replied shakily, turning from her to Jason. "Uh...are you..." and he paused, searching for the right word. "Are you...angels?"

Jason smiled beneath his visor, knelt down before Timur and motioned him closer. Still thunderstruck, the boy inched towards him. "No," Jason replied, lightly resting his hand on Timur's shoulder. "We're something else. But we're here to help. Your family, are they hurt? Do they need our help?"

This seemed to break the boy's reverie, and as fresh tears welled in his eyes, he shrugged helplessly. "I wasn't home, I don't..."

Jason nodded, and standing up, looked back to Zac, Trini and Brendan. "You three go with Timur, help his family, and work your way into the city from there."

The three Rangers nodded, and Zac stepped forward. "Your family's gonna be okay, Timur, I promise. Do you think you can lead us back to your home?"

Timur glanced up to the temple beside us and nodded. Beckoning the Rangers to follow him, he turned and began jogging away, and the three Rangers quickly ran after him.

Watching them go, Jason turned to the rest of us and raised his communicator. "It's going to be night soon, and we can't work in total darkness. Rex," and the mighty Tyrannozord roared in response, "light." Immediately, the zord's blue eyes lit up with a blinding glare, bathing the entire area in a soft blue glow. A second later, huge spotlights had unfolded from beneath panels in the zord's sides, and they too flashed to life.

"Okay," said Jason. "Let's move."

Billy, Sarah and Scott immediately raced away, while the three of us turned back to the street behind us. Beside the temple was a house that had partially collapsed, half the mudbrick structure remaining solid with the other half falling in on itself. Teresa, Jason and I dashed through the growing crowd of stunned onlookers towards it. I glanced down the street, my eyes quickly darting from ruin to ruin. It was gonna be a long night.

"And to think, two hours ago I was sitting at home watching _Australia's Funniest Home Videos_," I murmured.

"I know what you mean," said Teresa, as we came to a stop a few feet from the wreckage. The house was silent and deserted. There was nobody standing around the wreckage, and we automatically assumed the best.

"Looks empty," I said.

"I'll check anyway," said Teresa, "you guys keep going," and as she leaped over the rubble, Jason and I turned to the building next-door, what had once been a fairly large house. The roof and front wall had fallen in, and we could hear faint cries for help from inside.

Thundering up to the front of the destroyed house, Jason grabbed one side of the mammoth section of wall blocking the house's entrance, while I ran to the other side, and taking up the strain, we began dragging the wall back, tilting it steadily more vertical. As we pulled it upright and began lowering it to the ground, Teresa returned, rushing past us ("The last place _was_ empty!") and into the house, throwing aside rubble and debris as she went. By the time Jason and I had followed her inside, she'd already found the people within - an old man, trapped under a segment of wall, two young women buried by debris, and a young boy - and was helping free them.

The family all looked worse for wear but none seemed particularly badly injured. We helped them to their feet, and with Teresa carrying the boy in her arms, led them back outside. Seeing us all emerge, the crowd's uncertainty towards us vanished, and they surged towards us. Teresa carefully transferred the boy into a crowd of waiting arms, while several others came forward and began helping the other three victims. With that, the three of us turned back to the next building.

What used to be a double-storey house seemed to have fallen forward, the front walls shattering and crumbling but the rest of the structure remaining relatively intact. As we ran towards it, I scanned the front of the house, but couldn't see any other entrance.

"We'll have to dig our way in," I said.

Jason shook his head. "No time," he replied, and reached down to where the second floor of the house now rested at his feet. "Power up," he grunted, and curling his fingers under the lip of stone, he began lifting the entire second storey of the house. Slowly but surely, he raised the structure to chest-height, and straining with the exertion, stepped under the overhang, bracing the entire building on his shoulders. "Go!"

Teresa and I didn't wait a second longer, sprinting around Jason into the house and immediately spotting two people lying unconscious within, a man and a woman. Scooping them up, we glanced around to make sure we hadn't missed anyone, and dashed back out into the open. Jason watched us pass before stepping back and carefully letting the building down.

We left the two people we'd rescued in the care of the crowd and returned to where Jason stood panting.

"Never knew you were Atlas in disguise," I said.

Jason glanced up and leaned on my shoulder, still out of breath. "Neither did I," he puffed.

"C'mon guys," began Teresa, walking past us towards the next house, "we're not finished yet." Jason paused another second, catching his breath, and we both continued after her.

Unlike the previous homes, this house had been completely leveled. It was almost as if a zord battle had taken place inside. A small group of people stood to one side, trying to lever a huge piece of debris off a young man trapped underneath, and I immediately ran over to help. Towards the centre of the wreckage, a second man had been pinned down by a fallen wall, and while Jason ran towards him, Teresa began to scour the back of the house. Finding an enormous mound of debris, she pulled away a fallen tree and began throwing aside pieces of rubble, only to gasp in surprise - a pair of human feet were jutting out from under a piece of stone.

"Guys!" she called, quickly throwing away the wreckage, "there's somebody here! I think..." but her voice trailed away as she lifted the final piece of debris and uncovered the person trapped underneath. The man looked to be middle-aged, his torso drenched in thick, crimson blood. His face was frozen in pain, his eyes glassy and unfocussed. The piece of rock Teresa still held in her hand had crushed the man's chest when it had fallen, and she realised the awful truth before she'd even finished the sentence - he was dead.

The White Ranger moaned softly and stepped back in empty shock.

"No..." she murmured, shaking her head. It wasn't supposed to be like this, it just wasn't. They were there to save people, not uncover dead ones. She took another few steps back absent-mindedly, as if she was somewhere else, anywhere but there. Hearing Jason and I approach, she turned to face us.

"There was someone back here?" I asked, as she stumbled towards us.

Teresa shook her head. "No," she said. "We're too late."

For a brief second I didn't know what she meant, but glancing past her, saw soon enough. "Damn," I muttered, mostly to myself, lowering my eyes. "Damn."

Jason swept his eyes over the scene before us but turned away quickly. He'd assumed he'd be ready to face the tragedy at its worst, had been mentally preparing himself for it ever since Zordon had called the team into action earlier that night, but the sight before him was still too much. But he had a job to do, he couldn't let his feelings overwhelm him. Not now. Too many lives were on the line.

He turned to Teresa. "Hey, listen, are you all right?"

Teresa looked up suddenly, as if she'd forgotten Jason was there. "Yeah," she replied, "yeah, of course. It's just that, I never thought...I mean, I did, but...I didn't...it was just so close..."

"It's okay, I know how you feel, both of you," he said, turning and addressing me as well, putting his hands on our shoulders. "But you guys see the town behind us, and the people here? They need us. We can cry for those we can't save when we get home, but right now, I need you both to be strong, okay? The people behind us, _they_ need us to be strong."

Teresa paused for a second, then nodded. "You got it," the White Ranger replied, her resolve strengthened.

"And you can count on me too," I added.

Jason smiled. "I knew I could," he nodded, and looked back to the next house. "C'mon Rangers, let's keep going."

Across town, Timur had managed to navigate the ruined city and lead the three Rangers on a steady path back towards his home. As he began to recognise the streets, he couldn't help but smile - he'd been right, he _had_ known the way. But rounding the corner, he skidded to a halt, his mind simply unable to process the sight before him after everything he'd seen already. His house was gone, as if it had never been there in the first place, smashed to pieces by an uncaring world. A pile of rubble was all that remained.

Zac, Trini and Brendan came to a stop behind him, and glancing down the street, saw where Timur was staring.

"Timur," began Brendan, gesturing to the pile of rubble, "is that your home?"

Timur didn't have the heart to reply, nodding weakly.

"C'mon," said Trini, and leaving Timur, the three Rangers stepped towards the ruined house. But as they approached, they caught sight of a man, kneeling in the shadows at the front of the property, his head hanging low.

Zac turned from the man to the house before them. "It this your house?" he asked.

The man nodded, not even registering the strangely-dressed figure who'd asked the question. "I could not free them," he stammered, turning to the Rangers and raising torn and bleeding hands. "And my son, precious Timur...I haven't..."

"Never fear," said Brendan. "Timur's safe and sound."

At this, the man stood up and wheeled about on the spot. "You...you've seen Timur?"

The Aqua Ranger nodded. "You bet," and he looked back along the street. "Timur!"

Hearing his name, Timur stumbled forward, but immediately caught sight of the man in normal clothes standing beside the Rangers. In that instant, father and son locked eyes and stood frozen in wonder for a fraction of a second - then they were running towards each other, both of them crying, and Timur found himself swept up in his father's arms.

The Rangers watched the reunion a second longer, and once they were sure Timur was safe, they turned to the house, leaping over fallen masonry and immediately beginning to search for the rest of Timur's family, pulling debris clear and throwing away pieces of stone like they were made of styrofoam. Within minutes, Trini and Brendan had unearthed Timur's three brothers, all shaken but alive, and Zac had lifted clear a wall pinning the boys' mother to the ground.

Lifting the Ansari family out of the wreckage, the Rangers offered their shoulders for support, and the family members limped back out of the ruin. As they tearfully came together again, Timur gave silent thanks to whoever was listening for the strangers who'd saved them. And satisfied they'd done what they'd needed to do, the three Rangers left the Ansaris and sprinted away to the neighbouring houses to continue the search for survivors.

From that point on, the three teams of Rangers worked tirelessly throughout the night. House by house, street by street, block by block, we steadily worked our way into the centre of the shattered city, clearing away piles of rubble, dragging survivors free and, more often than not, applying emergency first-aid to the people we rescued. The Senior Team of Rangers had taken a first-aid class in school a few months back, and Teresa and Scott had also been taught the basics in first-aid by their mother who'd once worked as a nurse.

We made good time as the stars scrolled through the heavens above, but as each team approached what had once been the central district of Taloqan, our progress slowed. In the city, entire apartment blocks had fallen in on themselves, and the main street was nothing more than an enormous pile of tangled debris. Even gifted with our speed and strength, it felt like we were spending hours on every building, digging through the wreckage alongside the growing crowd of survivors. But no matter how long we took, the number of survivors we found completely eclipsed the number of those beyond our help, and remembering what Jason had said, _that_ was enough to keep me going.

But as the night wore on, the true miracle worker (as we all later learnt) was Ian. Within minutes of setting out, he'd somehow managed to gain control over the massive blaze consuming the southwest corner of the city and completely extinguish it. Amazing in itself given that zords only carry a limited supply of water and compressed carbon dioxide, the truly remarkable thing was that, from that point on, the threat of a firestorm raging out of control through the city became a total non-factor. Ian kept a close eye on the city all night, attacking even the smallest of flames and snuffing it out of existence before it could become a threat.

For the rest of us, the rescue mission was both heart-breaking and uplifting at the same time. In the centre of Taloqan, Billy found an entire restaurant of people crushed when the top floors of the building had collapsed, while across the street, Sarah uncovered a young woman with her baby, both alive and unharmed, sheltering beneath two walls that had wedged together solidly when they'd fallen.

The crowd of survivors who'd been following us and helping where they could swelled in numbers as the night progressed. A local tribal policeman who eventually gave his name as Jalili began to organise the mob, detailing smaller groups of people with specific tasks and coordinating their efforts alongside our own.

Often, the crowd didn't even need our help to begin digging through the rubble, leaving for us the buildings still partially standing. For good reason, too - two structures had collapsed while Teresa, Jason and I were still inside them. The first building was empty and the three of us managed to escape in time. But during the second instance, the roof came down just as Teresa and I had uncovered a young man and woman within - Teresa immediately threw herself to the ground and shielded the woman, while I instinctively summoned my Power Sword and began reducing pieces of stone to dust even as they fell.

Sometime between three and four o'clock in the morning, a gentle hum filled the air, and everyone looked up to see the Pterodactyl zord cruising over the mountains and soaring towards the shining Tyrannozord, a football-field-sized tray suspended beneath the Pterodactyl carrying the first wave of the United Nations rescue effort. Carefully setting the rescue workers down in an empty field, Kimberly brought the zord down nearby the temple and helped the relief workers set up a base of operations beside the mosque for the masses of wounded, cold and frightened people.

About this time, Tommy succeeded in clearing a path through the mountains, and as the Dragonzord returned and Tommy teleported down to join Kim, a new sound began to fill the air - the roar of exhaust engines - and trucks carrying heavy earth-moving equipment began to arrive. Once unloaded, they began work on the far outskirts of the city, planning to eventually meet up with the existing rescue operation. So with the effort steadily gaining momentum, we continued.

The faint crimson glow over the eastern horizon eventually became dawn, and the sun rose that morning on a city in ruins, bathing the heaped remains of countless shattered houses, stores and buildings in bright light. The sun blazed despite the early hour, and the air seemed to swelter in the heat. Rescuers not equipped with our visored-helmets put on surgical masks to filter both the smells and dust still in the air. With daybreak, we were able to take stock of how much ground we'd yet to cover, but glancing around, the teams found that the rescue effort, despite beginning barely fourteen hours ago, had somehow worked its way through three-quarters of the city.

It was amazing. The earthquake survivors who were not too badly wounded had joined the search and rescue mission, and because the number of people scouring the city was rising exponentially by the hour, we'd managed to accomplish a week's worth of work in less than twenty-four hours. Beyond the point of exhaustion but with our spirits rejuvenated, we kept going.

It was past midday, the sun high in the sky, when the rescue teams finally converged on the one street. The teams looked surreal working side-by-side, the UN workers clearing away rubble with bulldozers and cranes, while the nine Power Rangers dug through the wreckage by hand. It wasn't long before the street was cleared, the survivors all dug free, and everyone began piling the wounded onto the trucks or carrying them by stretchers back towards the medical tents set up around the city.

After the longest night any of us could remember, we were overjoyed to see each other again. I was dead on my feet and had been limping since dawn, and trudging back to base-camp alongside the other Rangers, my right leg finally gave out. Walking beside me, Teresa threw an arm over my shoulder, and we hobbled back together. At many places on our journey back through the city, ragged but joyful people stopped the procession to thank us for helping them.

But it was impossible to ignore the people we hadn't been able to help. Bodies lined the road, people kneeling on the ground beside them weeping mournfully, and watching them as we passed was the saddest experience of my life. I felt tears falling behind my visor, and I held onto Teresa that much tighter.

We found Kimberly, Tommy and Ian inside one of the medical tents hastily constructed beside the mosque, helping the Red Cross workers distribute food and fresh water, the four colossal zords standing silently nearby. Inside the tent, white-coated doctors and nurses were racing from patient to patient in frantic blurs of motion, trying to reach as many of the wounded as possible. A sea of stretchers filled the make-shift hospital, and as fast as the medical team were treating the injured, waves of more people were being carried in by the minute.

Seeing us arrive, the Pink, Green and Grey Rangers stepped away from their posts and fought their way through the crowd towards us.

"It's so great to see you guys again," said Kim as the twelve Rangers met, hugging as many of us as she could, her voice coarse from hours of shouting over the crowd.

"Yeah," nodded Tommy, leaning against Jason. "We figured you'd be searching the city for days yet."

"We had a lot of help," said Brendan, standing beside Ian. "We finished the last block of houses about an hour ago."

Ian smiled beneath his helmet. "Good job guys. Man, you must be exhausted."

"We are," replied Sarah. "And thanks. How are things on your end?"

"With so many trapped survivors rescued," began Tommy, waving his arm back over the sea of stretchers for effect, "we spent the night helping the Red Cross teams care for the injured. They've been run off their feet, but they're keeping up with the tide. More or less."

Kimberly nodded. "We've been listening to the radios all day, and a few towns just south of here were also hit by the quake, but it was nothing the UN couldn't handle."

Scott glanced back over the ruined city. "There's not much else we can do, I guess," he said.

"I wish we could stay and do more," said Teresa quietly.

Scott nodded. "So do I, but unless one of us is a major surgeon and great at keeping secrets, I think the medical teams should take over."

Kimberly nodded. "There's back-up on the way anyway. From what I heard, rescue teams are flying in from India, Switzerland, Russia and Australia."

"And the International Rescue Corp from the UK is either here already or only a few hours away," said Tommy.

"We've done all we can, I guess," said Zac, glancing around the group. "Everything seems under control. I think we can head home."

Everyone nodded in agreement, too exhausted to reply, and we turned around and wearily headed back towards the zords. But as we approached the metallic beasts for the journey home, Jason and I stopped and took a final look around the destroyed city.

"Talk about a way to start the winter holidays," I murmured.

Jason nodded. "I know what you mean. Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I think so. It's just that, with everything we saw here, I feel kind of empty. I wish I could be sad, you know, but it's like I'm not even here," I sighed. "I wonder what time it is back home?"

Jason glanced up to the early afternoon sun. "Probably just after sunset," he said. "Early evening. And don't worry, you're just exhausted. It'll catch up to you tomorrow, I promise."

I was about to reply when I noticed a young boy by the side of the road watching us leave. I recognised him instantly - it was Timur, the boy who approached us yesterday. "Hey look, it's Timur."

Jason looked over to the curb, saw Timur and grinned. Seeing both of us, Timur smiled as well, his white teeth flashing in the sun, and waved.

Jason and I waved back, and right then it hit me - we _had_ done a lot of good that day. That one smile seemed to make it real. With a final wave, Timur turned and ran back to where his family was waiting by the supplies tent, and we continued towards the zords.

"I should probably check in with Zordon first," nodded Jason, "just to let him know how we went."

I couldn't help it, I turned to him with a small smile. "You know, you're allowed to be human now," I said. "We're on our way home."

The Red Ranger didn't reply for a second, and I couldn't be sure but I knew he was smiling. At any rate, his shoulders fell forward slightly, and he let out a loud breath.

"We're not home yet," Jason replied, and I could hear the grin beneath his helmet. "But thanks for reminding me all the same."

"Anytime."

* * *

"I bet you never saw anything like this out at Goondiwindi, eh sergeant?"

Sergeant Ben Thompson glanced over his shoulder and scowled at the offending constable standing a few feet behind him. It was always the young ones...

"I doubt you've ever seen anything like this here in Caloundra, either?" he asked sharply.

The junior officer shrank back, stung. "No sir," he replied quietly.

"I didn't think so," said Thompson, and turned back to the grisly scene facing them.

Four bodies, each one tightly bound to a thick wooden stake, and all of them burnt beyond recognition, now little more than featureless black stumps. The fires that had consumed them had been recent - in some places, the bodies still smoldered - and so intense that the farthest stake had been eaten right through, toppling to the ground and taking the body to the pavement with it. The stakes themselves appeared to have been physically driven into the ground, all in a line only a few metres away from the rear delivery entrance of the Caloundra Hotel.

Thompson looked from one end of the alleyway to the other, deep in thought.

"Who found them, anyway?" he asked, turning back to the constable.

The junior officer quickly checked his notepad. "A hotel employee, uh, sir," he replied. "He said that he smelt smoke and came out here to investigate. We're taking his statement now."

Thompson nodded. "Good. Make sure I get a copy," and he looked back to the crime scene, sweeping his gaze over the four stakes. "You know, this is the first homicide I've ever been assigned where the victims were burnt at the stake."

Shaking his head, he turned back to the junior officer. "Start asking around," the sergeant began. "See if anybody heard or saw anything unusual. You cannot set fire to four people without attracting somebody's attention. And get forensics down here. I want these victims identified and I wanted it done half an hour ago."

"Yes sir," replied the constable, eager to make up for his earlier indiscretion, and unclipped the walkie-talkie from his belt. "Anything else you want Sarge?"

"Yeah," Thompson said, gesturing back to the remains of the four bodies. "Find me the kind of the person who could do something like this, and find him before he does it again."


	2. Interlude 1

Author's notes - Koulagirl, good to see you're back :). Yeah, I always planned to stop at a certain point, and 'Vigilante' is a story that I had to tell. And yeah, I should've made it clearer that the earthquake was happening on Earth, but it's pretty much a constant throughout the story. Anyway, enjoy the first interlude...

**Interlude One**

"...to which the Prime Minister responded by crossing the parliament floor and braining the hapless minister with his shoe. To international news now, and recapping our major story of the day, the search and rescue mission continues in the city of Taloqan, after an earthquake measuring 8.6 on the Richter scale rocked the region and left the town in ruins. Our international correspondent Vinod Kurup is on the scene now. Vinod, are you there?"

"Thanks Traci. As you can see, I'm standing beside what used to be an apartment complex on the city's west side, although it really could've been anything. The devastation here is unimaginable. Barely a building was left standing after the initial quake, and everybody's now bracing themselves for aftershocks."

"So can we expect the death toll to rise as high as that quake in Iran four years ago?"

"Well that's the thing Traci. All accounts from both the UN and the Red Cross suggest the greatest percentage of survivors in a disaster of this magnitude in recent decades. If you just follow me across the street, you can probably see behind me the Power Rangers working alongside UN rescue teams to free trapped survivors. The team of superheroes were first on the scene yesterday afternoon, and have been working their way through the city ever since."

"Were any other towns in the region affected?"

"No, Taloqan seems to have taken the full brunt of the quake. Russian seismologists traced the epicenter of the earthquake to a previously hidden fault in the Earth's crust about a kilometre south of here, but no other town seems to have been hit anywhere near as badly. Three neighbouring villages - Afaqi, Shur Cha, and Andarabiya - reported some minor property damage, but that appears to be about all."

"Thanks Vinod. Okay, we'll continue to cross live to the rescue mission in Taloqan in our ten thirty, midday and six o'clock bulletins. In other news, a trade disagreement in western Europe has led to..."


	3. Chapter 2

Author's notes - glad you guys are enjoying the story so far :). Here's chapter two... 

**Chapter Two**

It was the longest-running joke in Caloundra, one of those harmless jests told so often that it takes on a life of its own - Gina and Nicholas Tiaron were in desperate need of a hobby. Teresa, Scott and I never really understood the joke, and Jason always promised he'd explain it to me one day but he never seemed to get around to it.

Teresa and Scott's parents would never have had time for a hobby anyway, given the demands of looking after a family as enormous as the Tiaron clan. Large families were in their blood, though - both Gina and Nicholas were Italian and proud of their heritage, having married young and migrating to Australia soon after. Nicholas found employment in the financial department of a Caloundra-based corporation, while Gina had worked briefly at the city's major hospital before leaving to become a full-time mother to the growing army of Tiaron children. A job which, to be honest, she vastly preferred.

Their eldest, sixteen-year-old Jonathan, had recently come home with an earring (only to hear his father say that it actually looked pretty cool, which caused a full week of scowling), while fourteen-year-old Katie had multiple trophies for netball, indoor cricket, girls' soccer and karate, as well as the claim that she'd once beaten up her karate instructor. Next were the eleven-year-old twins, Teresa and Scott, who shared that unspoken connection all twins seem to possess and who both had an odd habit of disappearing at unusual times. After them was nine-year-old Rebecca, who idolised her two older sisters, and finally six-year-old Sam, in his first year at school and just learning to deal with girl germs.

Keeping track of no less than six children was an effort, though, but the Tiarons made it look easy. Which is why, as Gina and Nicholas sat reading the morning newspaper while everybody left for the day, both parents grew increasingly curious as to where Teresa was. Scott stumbling downstairs an hour or so after his brothers and sisters was not unheard of - quite a common occurrence, actually - but Teresa was usually awake with the sun.

Walking along the upstairs hallway, a mug of steaming coffee still in hand, Nicholas paused outside Teresa's room and lightly knocked on the door.

"Teresa?" he called, but when no reply came, he gently pushed the door open.

Teresa was sitting cross-legged on the end of her bed staring out the window at the street below, a melancholy look in her eyes that Nicholas could never remember having seen there before.

Hearing her father enter the room, Teresa turned to him and smiled. "Hey dad," she said, whatever she'd been thinking about vanishing from her expression but not fast enough to disguise its presence from her father.

"Good morning Teresa," replied Nicholas. "I called before, I'm sorry..."

"No, I didn't hear you," Teresa said. "Still really tired, I think."

Nicholas nodded, noticing the lines around his daughter's eyes and her tired, defeated look. "You look it. What did you kids all do at that Sam Cranston's adventure camp, anyway?"

Teresa shrugged. "You know, adventure-type things," she replied. "I'll just get changed and come down for breakfast."

"I'll go check and see if your brother's still unconscious," Nicholas said, and with a grin, left the room.

Teresa dressed quickly and hurried downstairs, tying her hair into a ponytail on the way down. Heading for the kitchen, she crossed through the dining room and glanced at the newspaper on the table as she passed. The headline instantly caught her attention, and with a curious knot forming in her stomach, she turned back to the paper to continue reading.

**Burned Alive**

_Four people were brutally murdered behind Caloundra Hotel last night, each victim tied to a stake and then set alight._

_The victims were discovered by a hotel employee investigating the smell of smoke, but by then it was too late to save them, nothing left of the bodies but charred stumps._

"_They were right behind the delivery entrance," said Joel Pearson, the bartender who discovered the bodies..._

"Teresa!" came a sudden voice, and Teresa looked up to see her mother standing in the doorway. Glancing anxiously from Teresa to the paper then back again, Gina crossed the room and quickly swept the offending newspaper out of sight. "Good morning," she said, kissing the top of her daughter's head. "Sleep okay?"

"Great," replied Teresa with a small smile.

Gina nodded, recovering smoothly. "Kate used the last of the milk before she left, you couldn't run down to Kitty's store for me and get some more?"

Teresa nodded. "Sure, no problem."

"Thanks," Gina smiled, "money's on the counter." And taking the paper with her, she disappeared back into the house.

But even as Teresa began to walk down the street towards the convenience store on the corner, she couldn't stop thinking about the story on the front page. It was a bright, clear morning, but whenever she recalled the headline, she felt a sudden chill. The sheer brutality of murdering somebody was sickening, but burning them alive? Shaking her head, she wondered how the other Rangers had reacted to the news. Teresa had stood face-to-face with pure evil - kicked its teeth in too, on occasion - but it was staggering to be reminded that evil was sometimes just as alive in the hearts of ordinary citizens.

Kitty's corner store was a small, dusty shop at the end of the street. Several tables and chairs sat on the pavement outside where Kitty talked to passing pedestrians on the hot, lazy afternoons when she had no customers. Not that it mattered where you were - a trip to the corner store wasn't complete without hearing the latest gossip, and Kitty had been the neighbourhood's most reliable source of information since the 1970s.

"Hello Teresa!" she called brightly as Teresa entered the store, turning away from dear old Mrs Fortescue from number 46.

"Good morning Kitty," Teresa smiled, heading towards the refrigerators in the corner where the plastic bottles of milk lived. Behind her, Kitty resumed her conversation with Mrs Fortescue, and Teresa couldn't help but overhear.

"...anyway, they didn't say it in the papers, but I heard one of them was Luke Fitzgerald," Kitty said, putting peculiar emphasis on the name, and Teresa instinctively knew they were talking about the four murder victims.

Mrs Fortescue was suitably stunned. "Not...you mean, _that_ Luke Fitzgerald?"

Kitty nodded, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "Indeed," she replied. "Good riddance, too, if you ask me. I used to babysit for the family, you know, and you should've seen the change in his son when all that horrible business went on, and what his father did. The poor child was devastated, he could barely leave the house. It just tore the family apart..." Kitty broke off, noticing Teresa approaching the counter. "Just the milk, dear? That'll be five fifty."

Teresa handed her the ten dollar note. "Are you talking about those four people they found last night?"

Kitty nodded, handing Teresa her change. "Dreadful business, all that," she said. "Fitzgerald might've had it coming, but it makes you wonder just where the world is going. Somebody really ought to do something."

Teresa paused for a second, and then nodded. "You're right," she agreed. "They should. Have a good day, Kitty," and taking the bottles of milk, she turned and left the store.

* * *

The Youth Centre was steadily filling with people out to enjoy the first morning of the school holidays, but as Teresa entered the building, she noticed the majority of the older teenagers holding copies of the daily paper and speaking in quiet, reserved tones. Behind the Juice Bar, Ernie was wiping down the bench and watching a news report about the earthquake in Taloqan - Teresa recognised the pictures on the screen from first-hand memory.

"Hey Ernie," she said, passing the bar.

Ernie looked to her and smiled. "Oh, hey Teresa," he said, and nodded his head in the direction of the screen. "You been watching the TV reports of the earthquake?"

"More or less," she replied, ignoring the brief impulse to tell Ernie she hadn't really_ needed_ to.

"Can you believe the Power Rangers rescuing the entire city full of people?" he said, then grinned. "And they're all ours."

Teresa smiled and turned away, soon spotting Tommy, Jason and I at one of the tables overlooking the work-out area. The three of us looked as if we were about to collapse. Jason was resting his head forward on both hands in a state of exhaustion Teresa could never remember, while I was sprawled in my chair, arms dangling over the arm-rests and my feet up on a nearby chair. Tommy's green backpack was lying on the table, the contents spilling out across the surface, while Tommy scribbled notes in a workbook with all the enthusiasm he could manage.

"Hi guys," said Teresa, walking over to us.

"Hey," I replied, as Teresa sat down next to me. "How are you feeling?"

"About the same as you guys look," she said, "but slowly regaining feeling in my arms and legs. Scott was still snoring soundly when I left."

"Yeah, I slept for about fourteen hours straight," Jason said, emphasising the point with a loud, gulping yawn. "I think that's a record."

Teresa glanced down to Tommy's notebook. "What are you working on, anyway?"

"An English assignment," replied Tommy. "It's due the week we all go back, and I know I'll forget about it if I don't start working on it now. We were studying mystery and horror in classical literature, and I have to write an essay on what defines a monster in classic literal terms."

Teresa glanced across the Youth Centre to a newspaper lying on a table across the room. "You wouldn't have to look far in terms of research, I don't think."

"You talking about what happened last night?" I asked.

Teresa nodded. "You guys all saw the front page of today's paper?"

"Yeah," Tommy replied grimly. "I couldn't believe somebody could do something like that. Not somebody human, at any rate."

"I know what you mean," agreed Jason. "We go to help the United Nations on a massive search and rescue mission, and back home in Caloundra four people are burnt at the stake. It's depressing, I'll give you that."

Teresa nodded. "We should do something, get involved somehow."

"This is really more of a police matter," shrugged Jason. "I mean, I don't think it falls into our jurisdiction."

"It's just not right though," Teresa replied, sitting back in her chair, "that somebody could do something like this."

"You mean like burning people alive?" came a voice, and the four of us turned to see Ian walking towards us. Reaching the table, he pulled out the chair beside Tommy and sat down. The Grey Ranger had a kind of glow in his eyes that the rest of us were lacking, and he looked like he'd jogged to the Youth Centre. "I take it you guys are talking about the murders last night, right?" We nodded. "Well, I wouldn't worry too much, they were already dead when the killer set fire to them."

There was a second of silence, and Jason turned to him. "Partly out of curiosity and partly out of fear, how exactly do you know that?"

"My dad is the officer in charge of the investigation," Ian replied. "He left last night a few minutes after I got home. And this morning, I heard him talking to somebody on the phone, and given this city's usual level of weirdness, I automatically started paying attention to what I was overhearing."

"This from the new guy," I said with a smile.

Ian grinned. "Anyway, there were two really weird things about the murders that _weren't_ mentioned in the papers, right? Apparently one of the bodies wasn't completely burnt, so the forensic guys could perform a fairly good examination of the body. The first thing was that the victims were already dead when the killer set fire to them. Dad mentioned something about blunt trauma..."

"Blunt trauma means they were probably beaten to death with something," mumbled Tommy. We all turned to him, and he lightly tapped his homework. "I had to read an Agatha Christie novel. You'd be surprised the things you pick in those books."

Teresa chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "But why go to all the trouble of setting fire to somebody if you've already killed them? That doesn't make any sense."

"Exactly why it stuck in my mind," Ian replied. "The second thing was that, according to the police scientists, the bodies burnt like they were doused in about twenty flammable chemicals, but the victim they could examine had absolutely nothing on them."

I remembered some of the things my father had told me about fire-fighting, and scratched my head. "And that's really weird too."

Jason glanced around the group. "You think this points to one of _our_ bad guys being responsible?"

"It's worth looking into," nodded Teresa. "I mean, if the killer isn't human it definitely falls into our territory."

Jason sat back in his chair, deep in thought. "I guess so..." he said. "It's just that all our villains tend to stand in broad daylight and threaten to blow things up. This just doesn't feel like a monster on the loose."

Ian looked from Jason to Tommy. "Do you guys think Rita could be responsible for this?"

Tommy shook his head. "No way. Why would Rita or Goldar be targeting random people? And if they were guilty, Rita would've been bragging about it by now. Same with Goldar, where's the ego?"

"And Rita's been quiet ever since we shut the Gateway anyway," said Jason, then turned to Teresa. "You're right though. If there is something supernatural about these murders, we should get involved." He paused, glancing around the table, and I couldn't help but smile - the fire was back in Jason's eyes, and the case was officially ours. "Ian, find out what you can about the murders from your dad and call me. I'd rather know more before making any kind of decision."

"I'll call tonight," said Ian. "Dad brings his case notes home every night, and that'll give me a chance to see what the police have found discovered, you know, that kind of thing."

"It's settled then," said Teresa, sitting back in her chair. "Thanks you guys, you know I do feel better, knowing we're doing something."

"From one adventure straight to the next," I said, looking over to Jason and smiling. "I guess superheroes never get winter holidays?"

Jason nodded. "It's a contract thing," he said, with a tiny smile in return.

* * *

After spending the day helping Tommy with his English assignment, the five of us eventually left the Youth Centre, Ian already thinking ahead as he said goodbye. There was a fax machine that doubled as a photocopier in his father's study - if he remembered how to use the thing, copying the notes shouldn't be too much trouble. But what _was_ a problem was actually getting enough time to read through everything covering his father's desk, find the relevant pages and copy them without being interrupted.

He exercised Fenris in the front yard until dinner, welcoming his father home when the car pulled into the drive. When tea was finished, and his brother was cleaning up while his parents watched television in the lounge room, Ian made his move, quietly sneaking upstairs, avoiding the steps that creaked, and heading towards his father's study.

"Sorry Dad," he murmured, and slipped inside.

Crossing the room, he reached the mahogany desk and realised he'd received some luck - the stack of papers beside his father's briefcase contained everything the police had on the case, and after quickly scanning the documents, he soon found the profiles of the four victims.

He'd just started reading the first profile when the phone rang. Ian jumped about three feet and immediately dashed to the door, opening it slightly and listening for approaching footsteps. He held his breath without realising, his heart beating double-time in his chest.

Downstairs, he heard his father answer the phone. Ian couldn't make out the conversation, but picked up the click of the receiver and heard his father turn to his mother and speak. The conversation was short, in tones barely above whispers, but Ian heard every word, and sighing softly, he raised his communicator and spoke.

"Jason, it's Ian, are you there?"

"I'm here," crackled Jason's voice. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yeah," Ian said. "Tomorrow morning the twelve of us are gonna have to get involved on this one."

There was a pause. "That bad, huh?"

"A dozen times worse," he replied. "I just overheard my dad on the phone, and they've found three more bodies, all burnt at the stake behind a house in Golden Beach. Jase, it looks like the murderer just graduated into a fully-fledged serial killer, and if yesterday and tonight are anything to go by, then we've got maybe twenty-four hours before he kills again."


	4. Interlude 2

Author's notes -- Koulagirl, I'd like to write professionally, but can't quite figure out how :). And good thinking with the witch-theory. I can't say much other than, you're on the right track, but it's a little simpler than that. Anyway, enjoy :).

**Interlude Two**

**Burned Alive**

_Four people were brutally murdered behind Caloundra Hotel last night, each victim tied to a stake and then set alight_.

_The victims were discovered by a hotel employee investigating the smell of smoke, but by then it was too late to save them, nothing left of the bodies but charred stumps_.

"_They were right behind the delivery entrance," said Joel Pearson, the bartender who discovered the bodies_._ "I'll never forget the smell of burning flesh, it was just horrible_._"_

_The shocking and vicious crime has rocked the close-knit community._

"_Caloundra is Caloundra, nobody's arguing that," said Mayor Des Dwyer, "but I've lived in Caloundra all my life, and a crime like this happening here is unthinkable_._"_

_Police investigating the murders have so far turned up no clues as to the identity of the killer nor the motive for such a brutal crime_.

"_Nobody appears to have seen or heard anything last night," said Sergeant Ben Thompson of the Caloundra Police, "which is extremely unusual given the way the victims were killed_._"_

"_It looks as if the killer and the victims simply appeared out of thin air_._"_

_Sergeant Thompson said the police were investigating the supernatural aspects of the crime suggested by the wooden stakes, but so far had found no leads_.

"_If anybody was at the Caloundra Hotel last night and saw or heard anything suspicious, we need to speak with you immediately," he said_.


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Peter? Peter, sweety, wake up."

The haze of sleep dissipated like fog, and I slowly opened my eyes, raising my hand against the sudden glare of light and making a sound not unlike that of a dying camel. Everything began to come into focus, and I saw my mother standing over me with an amused grin.

"Morning," I grunted.

My mother smiled. "Sorry about that," she began, "I know you like to sleep, it's just your alarm has been going for the last twenty minutes and it's driving your father and I crazy."

Alarm? My thoughts were barely making sense as it was, never mind the fact that I didn't actually own an alarm clock. Suddenly aware of a six-note chime filling the air, I glanced over to my bedside table - and saw my communicator chiming urgently.

Oh damn.

I immediately launched myself out of bed, grabbing the silver bracelet and spinning back to my mother.

"I'm awake," I said quickly, over the noise of the communicator. "I'll be right, thanks for waking me up."

Mum shook her head and smiled, before turning and leaving. "Quickest I've seen you move in a long time. Come out and have some breakfast when you're ready."

When I was sure I was alone, I fastened the thin metal band around my wrist, and raised it to my mouth.

"Jason?" I said quickly, "I'm here. I'm sorry. What's the emergency?"

There was a pause, and I could almost hear Jason's smile down the line. "Nothing major, the Universe just collapsed fifteen minutes ago," he replied. "I take it you haven't seen this morning's edition of the Suncoast Daily."

"No, not yet," I replied.

"Then have a look at the front page, and come to the Youth Centre as soon as you can."

"Be right there," I said, and the communicator fell silent. Leaving my room, I wandered into the living room where the paper usually rested first thing in the morning. Picking up the newspaper, shaking it open and looking at the front page story, I caught sight of the headline in big black threatening letters, and knew why the team needed me.

The headline for today's edition of the Suncoast Daily was **Killer Strikes Again - Three More Victims Burned Alive**.

* * *

Figuring I needed to make up for lost time, I left home and teleported into the Youth Centre as soon as I could. Leaving the empty locker-room, I glanced around the interior of the building for the others. The Youth Centre was busy despite the early hour, even for the school holidays. The exercise equipment at the side of the room was all being used, and several couples were sparring on the centre mats. The television behind the Juice Bar was still playing news footage from Taloqan, with a large audience of kids watching. I saw the other Rangers soon enough - they'd pushed together several tables in the furthest corner of the room, a fair distance away from all the other Juice Bar patrons.

"Hey Ernie," I called, passing the Juice Bar.

"Oh hi Pete," smiled Ernie. "You're running late today, everyone's already waiting for you."

"Thanks," I nodded, and quickly jogged over to where the group was sitting, grabbing a chair and squeezing in between Jason and Sarah. I couldn't help but notice that everybody still looked totally exhausted, as if we'd all run a marathon before arriving. Even the five of us who'd met here yesterday - Taloqan seemed to have taken something out of us all that couldn't be put back any time soon.

"Sorry, I'm late," I said quickly, "there were, uh, sleep issues involved."

Kim smiled. "Don't worry, we'll throw something at you if you start to drift off."

I nodded. "Thanks."

Jason laughed. "Now that everybody's here," he began, his expression changing, "we can get started. I take it by now everyone's heard about the murders the last couple of nights. Three last night, and four the night we all got back from Taloqan. I know that we're all still burnt out, but I think the Power Rangers need to get involved."

Sarah raised her hand. "Wouldn't we be overstepping our duties? Isn't this more of a police matter?"

Jason nodded. "Ordinarily, I'd agree with you. But the thing is," and he paused for effect, gazing around the table, "this serial killer might just have some home-made superpowers."

Everybody who hadn't been here yesterday turned to each other in surprise. "But how do you know?" asked Scott in a hushed voice.

Ian spoke up. "My dad is the police officer investigating," he explained. "I managed to read a report he brought home. As it turns out, one of the victims wasn't fully burnt, so the forensic scientists could work back from the chemical evidence of the fires. They couldn't find any evidence of fuel for the flames, but according to the report, the other three victims burnt as if they'd been coated in twenty gallons of petrol beforehand."

Billy adjusted his glasses thoughtfully. "That is peculiar," he said, and looked back to Jason. "You believe this indicates an element of the supernatural in these crimes?"

"Given everything that happens in this town, it's enough to make me wonder," nodded Jason, and he reached over to a manila folder lying on the table. "We've already ruled out Rita and Goldar, as well, so we're starting from scratch. These are the profiles of the first four victims Ian was able to copy last night. The official report is stapled behind." He pulled out a sheet and passed the folder to me. "Take a look at the victims and see if you recognise any of them."

The folder was quickly passed around the group, everybody quickly skimming through the profiles. The first victim caught my attention, the name sounding oddly familiar.

"Oh I know," I said aloud. "Luke Fitzgerald, he was in the news a few weeks back."

"Yeah," nodded Kim. "That's right, he was fired so he went after his boss and killed him."

I turned to Jason. "Do you think that would've been the motive for whoever murdered _him_? Like a revenge killing or something? "

Jason nodded. "Just take a look at the next three."

"The next guy's Troy Simmons," said Trini. "I remember him too. He shot and killed a bank teller during a robbery earlier this year, but one of the witnesses refused to testify so they couldn't prove it in court."

"The third victim keeps up the trend," added Tommy, reading the third profile. "Barbara Lee, an arsonist. She set fire to a hotel last year, and three people died in the blaze."

"There's poetic justice," I murmured.

"Guys," began Kimberly, "check out the fourth victim. Anthony Harris."

Tommy quickly turned to the final profile. "_The_ Anthony Harris?"

"One and the same," the Pink Ranger replied grimly.

Teresa turned to her. "You knew him?"

Kimberly nodded. "Everybody knew Anthony Harris. 22-year-old drug pusher, who robbed his first petrol station when he was fourteen, and who's been in and out of trouble ever since. He was always hanging around the high school hassling people, mostly young kids. A real sleaze too, by all accounts."

Tommy nodded. "That's what I heard, too," he said. "I remember somebody once said that Anthony was one of those people born rotten."

"Well exactly," said Zac, dropping the profiles onto the table. "If somebody is picking these people off, why on Earth should we try and protect them? Is there a good reason why we're about to possibly risk our lives to avenge a bunch of psychopaths?"

Everybody immediately turned to him. That was the longest word we'd ever heard Zac use.

"A bit of an overstatement Zac," said Tommy.

Sitting opposite the Black Ranger, Teresa nodded. "Yeah Zac, how can you not care?"

Zac tapped the profiles on the table before him. "Taking the things these people did into account," he replied, "pretty easily."

Teresa shook her head. "Okay, so they weren't particularly nice people, but it's our responsibility to get involved. People are dying, isn't that enough to...?"

"No way girl. We're supposed to protect the _innocent_, not..." At that precise second, Ernie rounded the corner and approached the table with a tray of drinks, and without skipping a beat, Zac continued talking. "...which is why the Broncos are going to lose the match tonight."

"You're wrong," replied Teresa, leaning forward, as Ernie began placing the drinks on the table. "The Broncos have never backed away from a tough game before. There's absolutely nothing different about tonight's match."

"Thanks Ernie," said Kim, as Ernie turned to leave.

Ernie smiled. "No problem Kimberly. You guys want anything else, gimme a yell."

"Teresa's right," said Ian. "All things being equal, this is the kind of match the Broncos will do best at..." Ernie disappeared around the corner, and the conversation swung smoothly back. "Look, if the killer does have superpowers, what _can_ the police do? I don't want my dad facing the kinds of things we have to."

Zac opened his mouth to argue, but Jason stood up, leaned forward and planted his fists against the table with an audible 'thud'. "Guys," he said, in the tone of voice he always used to silence a room full of people. It worked. "There's no vote on this one, Teresa and Ian are right - if the murderer has any kind of supernatural force at his call, we're the only people capable of dealing with him." He paused, and looked to Zac. "Don't make me pull rank on you, man."

Realising he was beaten, Zac nodded unhappily and sat back in his chair.

"Thank you," said Jason quietly, before addressing the group again. "The vigilante, for want of a better word, responsible for these deaths might be targeting these kinds of people, but they're _still_ people. Ian suspects - and I agree - that two attacks in two nights means the killer will strike again tonight, which gives us twelve hours. And all we've got so far is the first four victims and the connection between them."

"But it's not the only connection," said Sarah, looking up from the profile she'd been reading. "Troy Simmons couldn't be convicted because a witness refused to testify, right?" Trini nodded, and Sarah continued. "Now remember, Fitzgerald's case was dismissed on a legal technicality, I remember everybody in the media was really angry about it, and it says here that Lee was deemed mentally unfit to be held accountable for the fire - she was sent to a psychiatric hospital and not prison. And of course, Anthony Harris would never have really been punished because of his age."

"Bingo," said Brendan softly.

Billy nodded. "Excellent deduction Sarah," he said. "All four victims were never brought to justice for their own crimes. The killer, we can deduce, has taken this duty upon themselves. A citizen fulfilling their civic duty, so to speak."

"Caloundra's a big city, though," said Teresa. "And people have gotten away with a lot worse. There has to be some other reason why the vigilante chose these four people, something they have in common. If we can figure that out, it'll probably point us back to the killer."

"Enter the detectives, stage left," I nodded.

Scott groaned. "I hate playing detective," he said. "I can't even play Cluedo."

Teresa turned to her brother. "It'd help if you didn't always pick Colonel Mustard."

"But it always is him!"

Jason smiled. "All right, here's the plan. We split up. Ian, you're our man on the inside, see if the police know anything more about the killer or last night's victims. Take Peter with you." Ian and I nodded, and Jason continued. "Everybody else, we'll be investigating the first four victims, trying to figure out the link that Teresa mentioned - why the killer chose them. Kimberly, take Zac and investigate Harris. Talk to people, see if he had any...new...enemies. Teresa, you and Brendan find out about Fitzgerald, and Sarah and Scott, I want you two to find out whatever you can about Barbara Lee. See if anybody was specifically asking about them, or if their original victims are back for revenge, I don't know, think creatively. Billy, you and Trini can investigate Troy Simmons."

"What about you and me?" asked Tommy.

"We'll be heading into town and checking out the crime scenes," replied Jason. "That's what the cops on TV always do."

"Should we contact Zordon?" asked Trini. "Let him know what's going on?"

Jason shook his head. "Not until we know more," he replied. "For all this, it could just be a normal human killer, and the police could have arrested him by lunch. Billy, your father is still in Brisbane, right?"

"Affirmative," the Blue Ranger replied.

"Your place is pretty close to the centre of town. Would you mind if we regrouped there tonight?"

Billy shook his head. "That should pose no significant problem."

"Cool. Thanks," said Jason. "Aim to meet back at Billy's place at five o'clock tonight. Okay team, time to go to work."

* * *

"We'll head over to the basketball courts near the high school," said Kim as she left the Youth Centre, Zac following dejectedly a few steps behind. "That's where Anthony always used to hang out. We can talk to his friends and see if they might know if anybody wanted Anthony dead, I guess. I'll be the cute cheerleader, you be the muscle."

"What fun," muttered Zac, rolling his eyes.

Kimberly stopped and turned to the Black Ranger. "C'mon Zac, don't try the 'tude with me, you know it won't work," she said. "What's bugging you?"

Zac shrugged. "I don't know. It's just, we're the good guys, right?" he asked. "We're supposed to be wasting the bad guys, not protecting them."

Kimberly shook her head. "You know Jason's right on this one, Zac."

The Black Ranger nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

"I don't really think you owe _me_ the apology," Kim replied gently, then grabbed his hand and kept walking. "Now c'mon, I need you for this. I can't be cute if you're not hip."

And even in spite of himself, Zac had to smile.

* * *

The alleyway behind the hotel had been fenced off with bright yellow police tape. A small crowd of pedestrians stood at either end of the street watching the police scientists work, and Jason and Tommy were able to slip into the crowd unnoticed. The stakes had since been removed from the alley, but pieces of ash still littered the lane.

"We know the victims from the first night were beaten to death before they were burnt," said Tommy, turning from the alley to Jason. "But were the victims from last night killed before the murderer set fire to them? Can you imagine what that would be like, to burn alive?"

"Trying not to," replied Jason.

Tommy looked back to the four mounds of dirt where the stakes had stood. "What kind of person could do something like this anyway, superpowers or not?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know," he said softly. "It's not like the victims were particularly nice people, but still..." Glancing around the crowd, Jason's eyes narrowed. "Tommy, anything strike you as strange about using this alley to set fire to four people?"

Tommy paused, looking around and nodding. "Yeah, it's too open," he said. "The vigilante wanted the bodies to be found."

"That's what I was thinking," said Jason. "I don't think we're gonna find anything more here. Do you want to head over to Golden Beach and see if we can take a look at the second crime scene?"

The Green Ranger nodded, and the two friends turned and left the alley, walking back towards the main street of the city.

Tommy smiled. "So much for being high-profile detectives," he said. "I bet Sherlock Holmes never had to wait for the bus."

Jason turned to him with a grin. "Shut up Watson."

* * *

From there, the day went pretty fast. Ian and I spent the morning at the police station talking to Ian's father and trying to learn how much the police had uncovered. Jason and Tommy had a look at the second crime scene, a narrow lane behind an empty house in Golden Beach, before asking the people living nearby if they'd seen or heard anything strange the night before. Sarah and Scott visited the hotel that Barbara Lee had tried to burn down, while Trini and Billy chatted to a friend of Trini's father who'd worked at the bank Troy Simmons had robbed. Kimberly and Zac spoke to various teenagers across the city, while Teresa and Brendan spoke to Kitty, who Teresa had remembered chatting with Mrs Fortescue about the Fitzgerald family.

I think everybody was getting into our roles as detectives, and at any rate, five o'clock was with us before we knew it.

The Cranston's house lay only a few blocks away from Sunland Shopping Centre, in one of the suburbs between the high school and the centre of town. On our way to meet up with the other Rangers, Ian and I turned a corner and saw Zac and Kimberly a short distance ahead.

"Hey guys!" Ian called, and we jogged towards them.

"On your way to Billy's?" asked Kim, as Ian and I drew level.

I nodded. "How'd you guys go for the day?"

"Not too bad, although we didn't really get much," replied Kim. "We spent the day talking to people who knew Harris, things like that. How about you?"

"From what we saw, the police don't have much in the way of leads," Ian said. "Although I did learn a bit about last night's victims."

"That's better than nothing," said Zac, as we crossed the street towards the Cranston home. It was a large, two-storey house, with tall leafy trees framing the building, a waist-high white picket fence and a picturesque garden tended to by a professional gardener twice a week. The garage door at the side of the house was open, and countless gadgets, pieces of circuitry and half-finished inventions were visible lining the walls. All of it belonged to Billy, and I learnt later that some of it wasn't even from Earth.

"Where's Billy's dad, out of curiosity?" I asked.

"I think he's on jury duty down in Brisbane," replied Kimberly.

Billy met us at the door, and telling us we were the last Rangers to arrive, he ushered the four of us into the spacious lounge room where everybody was waiting. Most of the seats were already taken, and Ian and I dropped down on the floor beside Teresa and Brendan, while Kim joined Trini on a worn sofa and Zac quietly rested against the wall in the corner. As we sat down, Jason looked to me with a grin.

"Why is it you're always the last one to these things?" he asked.

I smiled. "At least I wasn't asleep this time."

"That's true," he replied, then glanced to Ian. "First things first - how close are the police to solving this one?"

Ian shook his head. "From what I could see, they're no closer than us," he replied. "I think my dad is following the 'urban vigilante' theory as well, but the fire's stumped everybody."

"We did find out a bit about last night's victims, though," I added.

"Yeah," said Ian. "Our killer stuck to his MO - one of the victims last night had recently been charged with beating her stepson."

Jason nodded. "That's something, at least. How did everybody else go? Kim? Zac?"

"We didn't find much," replied Kimberly. "With Anthony Harris, it'd be faster eliminating a list of people who actually did like the guy." Kim turned to Trini, sitting beside her. "How about you and Billy?"

Trini shook her head. "We didn't discover anything you couldn't have read in the newspapers. There's always tomorrow."

"No, that's okay," replied Jason. "This is new territory for us, we're not doing too bad. Teresa and Brendan, you didn't find anything new about Fitzgerald?" The two Rangers shook their heads, and he turned to Sarah and Scott, seated together on a chair. "Nothing on Lee either?"

"We spoke to the hotel manager," said Sarah, "and he gave us the name of the family who died in Lee's fire. I'm going to try and find them tomorrow."

"What about Tommy and yourself?" asked Billy. "Did your pursuit provide us with any tangible evidence?"

Jason nodded. "The places where the vigilante left the bodies, behind the hotel and in the lane in Golden Beach - they were too open, plainly visible from the roads going past. I would've assumed most murderers wouldn't actually want their victims to be so easily found."

"But it makes sense though," said Teresa. "I mean, think about it. The people he targets have all escaped from proper justice. Putting them on display so publicly, it's like he's saying 'This is what happens if you don't obey the law'." She broke off. "'This is what happens if you don't obey me'."

"So you think it's about spectacle?" asked Jason.

Teresa nodded. "Exactly. Whoever the killer is, he wants them to be found and seen so he can get his message across."

"Going by what we know that sounds right," I said.

"Totally," agreed Kimberly. "So where do we go from here?"

"We patrol the city," replied Jason. "Three of us can cover the industrial estate to the west of town, I want four people in the city itself, two south in Golden Beach, and three in the northern suburbs, Currimundi, Aroona and Wurtulla. Everyone needs to be careful - the killer may only be targeting crime offenders, but he's not going to be happy if anybody tries to interfere. Keep in contact at all times, and teleport to safety if you need to."

"What if he doesn't show?" asked Sarah.

"He will," replied Teresa. "He's got no reason not to. He's gotten away with it so far."

"Exactly," agreed Jason. "Except tonight is going to be different. Tonight, we'll be waiting for him."

* * *

"Brendan's across the highway between the airport and the timber yards," said Teresa, as she and Scott walked down into the city's industrial district, dark warehouses and empty factories on either side of the road, nobody else in sight. "If you want to patrol to the right of this road, and I'll head left."

Scott nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he said, then turned to his sister. "Just be careful, okay?"

Teresa smiled. "You're not going all big brothery on me, are you?" she asked. "Scott, we're twins."

"I've still got five minutes on you," Scott said.

The White Ranger laughed. "I'll be fine," she replied. "Thanks." Scott smiled, and as they reached an intersection, Scott headed right while Teresa turned down to the left.

The street was deserted, empty warehouses and chain-link fences on both sides, and working street-lamps seemed to be limited to about one per block. After glancing down a side-road, Teresa crossed another intersection, turned right and continued when her communicator beeped.

"Hey Teresa, it's Jason here. Just checking in. Everything okay?"

Passing an auto-repair yard where a doberman roughly the size of a pony was silently prowling the aisles of car-bodies, Teresa raised her communicator and spoke.

"I can't speak for Brendan or Scott, but there's no sign of our serial killer so far," she replied.

"It's pretty quiet in the city, too. I'll check back in five minutes, let me know if you find anything."

Teresa was about to reply when she suddenly realised that Jason's voice wasn't the only one disturbing the stillness of the night. Approaching another intersection, she could faintly hear two distinct voices, the first soft and whimpering and the second loud and threatening. Whatever was happening, somebody was in trouble. Teresa broke into a run, and raced around the building on the corner only to come to a sudden screeching halt.

"Teresa?" crackled Jason's voice. "Teresa, what's wrong?"

About twenty metres down the road on the other side of the street, five wooden stakes had been driven into the ground and stood framed against the night sky. Each one held a person, all of them tightly bound with thick rope. Around the base of each stake lay a pile of kindling. Three of the people already looked to be unconscious, the fourth was talking to himself in a low voice, while the fifth was pleading in the fearful voice she'd heard before. It wasn't difficult figuring out who he was speaking to.

A six-foot armoured warrior was standing nearby, towering over the five victims. His upper body was covered in stylised yet ancient-looking silver armour, and he wore black leg-plates and silver boots. A cloak the colour of blood fell from his shoulders, and a silver belt studded with rubies was wrapped around his stomach. Teresa could not see the warrior's face - it was hidden by a silver mask covering his head - but noticed a pair of fiery red eyes, burning brightly from behind the mask. And try as she might, Teresa couldn't quite shake the feeling that she'd seen this figure somewhere before.

"Pl...Please," the man tied to the stake was saying, as the warrior prowled from stake to stake, surveying his handiwork. "I have a wife...a family...you can't do this, for the love of...this is against the law, I..."

This caught the warrior's attention, and he immediately swung back towards the man. "You speak of the _law_!" he bellowed. "You spent a life-time mocking the law, what right do you have appealing to it now?"

The man shook his head, struggling uselessly against the ropes binding him. "I didn't...please show some mercy..."

"I will show as much mercy as you did for your victims," the warrior replied. "You are an affront to all that is righteous, and tonight Fury will extinguish your black heart with fire that would bring Atar himself to his knees!"

Teresa had heard enough. "Jason, he's here, I found him," she said quickly. "Call the police, send them to..." She glanced to the street-sign beside her, "the corner of Daniel and Wright Streets. And Jason..."

"We're on our way," said Jason, and the communicator fell silent.

Teresa glanced back to the vigilante and his five soon-to-be victims. He was still striding back and forth before the stakes, taking the time to admire his work - she couldn't know how long that would last. The means of setting fire to the victims wasn't readily visible, but judging by the way he was dressed, Teresa had a pretty good idea how he'd manage.

Turning to the warehouse beside her, she saw a firehose hanging on the wall beside her, connected directly to a hydrant underneath it. Racing forward and hoping the vigilante wouldn't notice her, Teresa quickly read the directions pinned to the wall, uncoiled the hose and aimed it for the closest stake. Without taking her eyes off the vigilante, she reached back, unhooked the lever and slammed it down.

A jet of water immediately exploded from the end of the hose, showering the scene with spray. The sheer force of the torrent would've knocked most adults back off their feet, but Teresa braced herself against the ground and stood firm, using the hose to drench the first victim and sweep away the kindling around his feet. Once the man was spluttering with water and thoroughly soaked, Teresa adjusted her aim and turned to the next victim in line.

The warrior noticed the jet of water only after a few seconds, and he spun around to find Teresa crossing the street and bringing the firehose closer. The warrior was visibly stunned, freezing in his tracks but recovering soon enough.

"Foolish child!" he roared, taking giant strides towards her. "What are you doing?"

"Helping somebody," Teresa called over the roar of the water, finishing with the second victim and turning to the third. "Try it sometime."

"You have no idea who you're dealing with!" the warrior cried, and raised his arm towards her. This had happened far too many times to doubt what was coming - Teresa threw the firehose aside and leaped to safety as blasts of orange flame shot from the warrior's hand, scorching through the air and smashing into the side of the warehouse, instantly destroying the firehose and taking an enormous piece out of the wall in the process.

Teresa landed lightly a few feet away, and the warrior turned to her.

"Go home child," he growled. "You do not understand Fury's mission."

"'Fury'?" Teresa repeated, then nodded. "Right, you're talking about yourself in third person. Trust me, that doesn't exactly inspire faith."

"I warn you," Fury began, taking another step towards Teresa, "I will not tolerate disobedience..."

"You keep away from her!" cried a voice, and Brendan raced past Teresa and leaped into the air, his heel on a direct course with Fury's torso. He slammed his foot into the warrior's chest and bounced off him, dropping to the ground and leaving Fury unfazed.

'Huh. That's usually way more effective,' Brendan thought, and it wasn't until he glanced down and realised he was still unmorphed that he knew why.

Fury looked down at him for a second longer, and with a shrug, casually swept Brendan into the air with a wave of his hand, sending him crashing to the pavement several metres away.

"Brendan!" cried Teresa.

Fury turned back to her and stepped closer. "I warned you not to cross me..."

Without warning, the Black Power Ranger somersaulted down between them, slicing his axe through the air and cleaving through Fury's chest-armour.

Zac raised his axe defensively as Fury stumbled backwards in a shower of sparks. "Believe me pal," he began, "you do _not_ want to do that again." Keeping an eye on Fury and wary of the witnesses in the area, he turned back to Teresa and spoke. "Ma'am, I think your friend might be hurt..."

"Thanks," Teresa replied, and raced over to Brendan. Zac glanced quickly back to Fury but he needn't have worried - the vigilante's attention had been firmly captured by Zac's arrival.

"A Power Ranger," he growled, spitting the words out like poison, his eyes burning with anger, "one of the greatest heroes of the age, doing your best to make the world a better place while everybody sits at home watching you on television and expecting you to save them." He paused, and Zac knew Fury was sneering beneath his mask. "Come to save the day?"

The Black Ranger shook his head. "To stop you."

Fury laughed contemptuously. "I cannot be stopped."

Zac grinned. "Then one of us is in for a real nasty shock."

Fury roared in anger, and spinning around to a car parked by the curb, he placed his hands on either side of the hood and _picked the entire vehicle up off the ground_, launching it at the Black Ranger. Zac dived to safety as the car spun through the air and landed with a crash, its windows all shattering and doors flying open and tearing off. The car slid along the ground with a squeal of metal on bitumen before coming to a stop against the warehouse on the corner.

Zac rolled to his feet and raised his axe as Fury followed after him, but with a flash of light and a shower of sparks, Fury suddenly found himself facing the entire team of Power Rangers. Kim and Ian stepped forward on either side of Zac, each one brandishing their Power Weapons, while Jason and I raised our blades. Scott and Trini landed behind the rest of us, and immediately dashed over to Teresa and Brendan.

Fury glanced around the team of Rangers facing him, let out a low growl beneath his mask, and slowly took a step back.

"Never pick a fight with a Power Ranger," said Sarah. "We tend to come as a set."

Fury stepped back between two of the stakes, and fell into the shadow of the building behind them. "You will not tempt Fury from his righteous path," the vigilante replied, his voice strangely soft. "Not for a single second," and with that, he was gone. We all turned to each other and looked around - the twin points of fire that had been his eyes were shining in the darkness one second, and then the next, it was like he'd stepped through the air and vanished.

"Where'd he go?" asked Ian, lowering his blasters.

I shrugged, about to reply when the sound of sirens began to echo down the street, and turning, we saw a parade of police cars, ambulances and fire engines heading towards us.

"Brendan," said Jason suddenly, and we all raced over to where Teresa, Scott and Trini were kneeling around the downed Aqua Ranger. He looked up as we approached, and smiling weakly, made an effort to talk. No sound issued from his mouth.

"The police are here," said Jason, as the first police cars began to pull up behind us, "listen, I think...we're gonna have to get you out of here. Can you teleport?"

Brendan nodded slowly, and Jason turned to Zac and Tommy. "You guys stay here. Zac, tell them everything you saw but don't mention Teresa and Brendan." The Green and Black Rangers nodded and stepped back, and Jason continued. "We'll meet you back at the Command Centre. C'mon guys," and after Teresa had reached down and clasped Brendan's wrist, everybody tapped the top button on their communicators, and the team teleported from the scene.

* * *

Tommy and Zac materialised in the Central Chamber in a flash of light, and demorphing, they quickly joined the rest of us beneath Zordon's plasma tube.

Teresa immediately turned to face them. "How are they?"

"All the victims were still alive," nodded Tommy. "A couple of them were suffering from shock, but that was about it. They were all taken into police custody in case Fury tries again."

Teresa nodded. "At least we got there in time."

"That's pretty much all we've got to report," said Zac. "How's our soldier?"

"Feeling like he was hit by an Ultrazord," came a voice, and we all turned to see Brendan staggering back into the room holding his shirt in his hand, Alpha carrying a tray of medical supplies behind him. Brendan's chest was wrapped in white bandages, and the parts that weren't hidden all seemed to be turning interesting shades of purple. "But otherwise okay."

Zac smiled. "At least you didn't have a car thrown at you," he joked.

"Alpha," I said, "how is he?"

"Ayeyiyi," began Alpha. "Three of Brendan's ribs are fractured, and although it looks worse than it really is, it's still a serious injury. At your age Rangers, your bones are still growing, so he'll have to take care in the next few weeks."

Jason turned to Brendan. "Which means you'll be staying out of action from here on in."

Brendan frowned. "And I was such a success as a punching bag, too..."

Removing a glass bottle from the first-aid kid, Alpha turned to Brendan and dropped it into his hand. "Take one of these pills every morning," the robot instructed. "They'll help ease the pain, and will accelerate bone mending and regrowth in your chest."

"Thanks," Brendan replied, and carefully put his shirt back on as Alpha tucked the first-aid kit underneath the nearest control panel.

"Rangers," boomed Zordon, and everybody looked up to the interdimensional sage who'd been waiting patiently for the last fifteen minutes. "I can assure you, it's a pleasure to see you all," he began, "and I understand that the twelve of you are on school holidays at the moment, perhaps necessitating the need to keep yourselves busy. But if I may be so bold as to inquire, what on Earth have you gotten yourselves into?"

Standing side-by-side, Jason and I turned to each other and looked back up to Zordon.

"Well," began Jason, "it's kind of a long story. See, the thing is..."

And from that point on, we told Zordon and Alpha everything that had happened over the last couple of days, starting with yesterday morning in the Youth Centre right up to tonight where our guesswork paid off. To their credit, they both listened without interrupting. Jason and Teresa spoke the most, telling the story together, while the rest of us joined in occasionally.

"...And the reason we didn't tell you," finished Jason, "is I was worried we'd be wasting your time chasing after a normal human murderer as opposed to monitoring an entire galaxy full of supervillains."

Zordon nodded. "First of all, you made the right decision, Rangers, to get involved. Even if this serial killer is entirely human, the fact that people are in danger and you wish to intervene is all that matters. Alpha and I will be more than happy to lend you all our resources in aid of solving these crimes."

"Thanks Zordon," replied Kimberly.

"And after tonight, we'll need them," said Ian. "I think it's a safe bet we were right - whoever this Fury guy is, he ain't human."

Sarah smiled. "What gave it away? The blasts of fire, throwing a car like a tennis-ball, or vanishing into thin air?"

Ian shook his head. "The ridiculously-lousy fashion sense."

"Good point."

"Hey guys," called Trini, standing with Billy over by the viewing screen. "We've got him." Everybody turned around to see a figure of the armoured warrior on the viewing screen.

Zac nodded. "That's our badguy," he said. "That's Fury."

"His name certainly does him justice," said Scott. "So what do we know about him?"

"He's not as supernatural as he looks, for a start," said Teresa. "Only a local would know about the specific crimes that he's punishing his victims for, and there were those things he said about sitting at home and watching us on television. He might have superpowers, but I'd bet that under that mask, he's human."

Brendan turned to her. "So the twelve of us aren't the only people in Caloundra with secret identities?"

Teresa shook her head. "No, not any more," she replied. "He also said something else though," she continued. "When I first got there, he said something about...uh..." She searched her memory. "Making...Atar tremble, or something."

"That is unusual," said Trini. "I wrote an ancient history assignment a few months back, and I think Atar is the god of fire in Persian mythology."

"So there's a Persian god on the loose killing lawbreakers?" asked Tommy, his eyebrows raised.

"It couldn't be that easy," Teresa replied, "but it probably wouldn't hurt to check it out. Alpha, could you print-out some information on Atar?"

Alpha nodded. "Ayeyiyi, I'll be just a minute," he said, immediately turning to the nearest control panel.

"Are you positive that would be beneficial to our investigation?" asked Billy. "Treating mythological tales as serious evidence in a murder investigation..."

"At the moment it's all we've got," said Jason. "It might help."

Sheets of paper began to print out from the console Alpha had been working at, and he began handing them around the room.

"Okay," said Jason, "if we can read through this tonight, see if anybody thinks of anything, and we can meet back here tomorrow morning at eight to figure our next move."

Everybody nodded, but Zac stepped forward and looked over to Teresa. "Hey, guys, listen," he began. "Before everybody goes, I just wanted to say sorry. For being a jerk this morning in the Youth Centre." He paused, cautiously meeting Teresa's eyes. "Just, the thought of actually defending monsters, it kinda freaked me out, that's all."

Teresa nodded. "Thanks" she said. "And you know what? For what it's worth, I agree with you."

"You do?"

"Definitely," she replied. "I shudder to think what those five people we rescued tonight were never punished for - but at the end of the day, that doesn't matter. There's a reason we have a legal system, and it may not be perfect, but at least if there's flaws in the system, there's a chance to fix them. What happens if Fury kills somebody and he's wrong? How can you fix that kind of mistake?"

Zac shook his head. "You can't," he said softly. "Which is why we've gotta find him and kick his teeth in before he does it again, right?"

Teresa smiled. "More or less," she replied.

A short moment of silence followed, broken only by several loud yawns.

"Okay, I'm thinking we should head home before we collapse of exhaustion right here," I said.

"A night's rest will do you all the world of good," nodded Zordon, as we all prepared to teleport. "Good night, Rangers."


	6. Interlude 3

**Interlude Three**

"Hello, Tiaron residence, this is Gina."

"Hi Gina, it's Cathy."

"Oh Cathy, hey! It's great to hear from you."

"Well the boys are staying with friends tonight and Dan's out of town, so I figured I'd call you up and say hello. How have you been?"

"I'm pretty good, thanks. My sister in Florence called the other day to tell us she just got engaged, so we've all been invited to head back home for the wedding later in the year. Nick and the kids will enjoy that."

"Well that sounds lovely. What about Nicholas, how's he?"

"Oh, he's fine. It's close to promotion time at work, so fingers crossed. And he's got some long-service leave coming up in August, which should be great."

"And the kids?"

"Everybody's on holidays at the moment, so things are pretty lively around here. Jonathan came home with an earring a couple of weeks back, actually. I nearly flipped, but I have to admit, Nick handled it a lot better than I did. Everyone else is fine, except for, well, Teresa and Scott..."

"Something wrong?"

"Not wrong, no. It's just, they hang out with a group of older kids. Don't get me wrong, I've met them and they're all really nice. But they were out so late last night, they've barely been home half an hour all week, and Teresa just seems so distanced lately. I know I should trust them, and I do, you know. I just don't want my kids getting involved with the law or anything, not at such an early age. Anyway, enough about me. How have you been?"


	7. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Teresa woke the next morning just as the sun began to shine into the room. After joining her parents for a quick breakfast, she returned to the room she shared with her younger sister Rebecca, sat down at her desk and began reading through the information Alpha had printed out last night, a brief description of the god Atar and how he related to other figures within Persian mythology.

Reaching the end of the print-out, Teresa dropped it onto the desk and sat back. There was no particularly useful information in there, and certainly nothing about silver-clad warriors with eyes of fire who had a habit of killing law-breakers.

She brushed a stray lock of her hair out of her eyes, and thought back to last night when she'd confronted him, picturing the vigilante in her head. There was still something oddly familiar about the figure of Fury, a nagging suspicion that she'd seen that figure somewhere before.

_But where?_

Teresa shook her head, and glanced down to her communicator. 7:24. Scott would still be asleep, and they were scheduled to meet back in the Command Centre at eight...

_Hang on a minute_...

And she suddenly remembered why Fury looked so familiar. Crossing the hall to the room shared by Scott and their younger brother Sam, she opened the door and headed for the bookshelf beside Scott's bed. Settling down on the floor, Teresa immediately found the volume she was looking for, and opening the book, began hurriedly flipping through the pages.

"Morning Scott, mind if I borrow this?" she asked.

She heard a groan behind her and smiled. "Wha...oh, g'morning T'resa," came a slurred voice, as Scott slowly drifted awake. "We've gotta meet the others soon, don't we?"

Teresa nodded, about to reply when she turned a page, and there he was. An armoured warrior, red cloak, and eyes of fire - Fury, in all his glory.

"Scott, I've found him!" she cried.

Scott immediately rolled out of bed and landed on the floor beside his sister. Turning to the book, his eyes suddenly went wide. "Hey, you're right, that's Fury!"

They both quickly stood up. "We better get this to the Command Centre," Teresa said, heading for the door.

"Sure thing sis," replied Scott. "Right behind you."

Teresa nodded, but couldn't help smiling at the thought - it had taken a super-powered serial killer, but Scott was finally awake and enthusiastic about something first thing in the morning.

* * *

Jason and I arrived in the Command Centre in twin showers of bright light, and looking around, saw that we were the last Rangers to arrive. Everyone else was gathered around Teresa and Scott who were standing beneath Zordon's plasma tube, Teresa holding a thick book. 

"We got your message. You guys found something important?" asked Jason.

Teresa nodded. "Yep," she replied conversationally, "we've found our badguy," and holding up the book, she opened to a bookmarked page - a silver-clad  
warrior with a red cloak stared back at us. It wasn't an exact representation, but it was pretty close.

"Hey, that's him!" cried Ian.

Zac nodded, and glanced to the book's cover. "That's definitely Fury. But what's he doing in the _World Encyclopedia of Mythology_? Is that Atar?"

"No," Teresa replied, "but close." And she turned the book back around, and began reading. "Aesma Daeva, patron spirit of violence and personification of anger and hatred. Aesma Daeva was a big player in ancient Persian mythology, and also features in the religion of zoro...astro...something."

"Roughly translated, his name means 'fury'," continued Scott. "Major badguy material. From all accounts, he was fairly high up the cosmic foodchain, so to speak."

Teresa nodded. "According to this, there's a specific ritual that can be performed where Aesma Daeva is bonded to the person who summoned him, imbuing that person with the demon's powers." Teresa paused, lightly tapping the picture. "Which brings us to this guy."

"Teresa, that's brilliant!" I said. "So we were right last night, underneath the fancy dress there _is_ a normal human."

"Exactly," replied Scott. "We searched through the archives before you guys arrived this morning. The ritual can only be performed in a certain temple somewhere in the Middle East. And as it turns out, the temple in question was only recently restored by archaeologists and is now open to tourists."

"That's great," said Ian. "Our first lead. So where do we go from here?"

"Well, we should be able to access computer files in all the travel agencies in Caloundra, right?" asked Trini. "Let's just see how many residents of the city made a trip to the Middle East in the last twelve months."

Alpha nodded. "I'll get right to it," he said, turning to the console nearest him. But after a few seconds of typing, he turned back to face us. "Ayeyiyiyiyi Rangers! About four months ago, one of the agencies in Caloundra was offering a half-price holiday to that part of the world. I've got hundreds of suspects! From what I can gather, it seems like the majority of people went on holiday around the time of Rita's arrival and your first appearance as Power Rangers."

"I guess there's nothing like the threat of being obliterated by fifteen storey aliens to give people the travelling bug," said Brendan.

I nodded. "Indeed."

"Okay, so all we have to do is narrow down the list," said Jason. "Fury's obviously male, and I guess could be anywhere between a sixteen-year-old on a power trip, and fifty. He'd have to be reasonably healthy, too."

Alpha nodded, and punched several more buttons. Pages soon began to print out. "That narrows our search down to 132 healthy male residents of Caloundra," he said, passing the stack of papers around the room, "each with an address attached."

"And bingo," said Sarah. "We've got a suspect list."

Teresa nodded. "It's utterly enormous, but it's better than the phone book. One of these men is our murderer - we just have to find which one."

"And it's a sure thing he'll be back tonight," said Jason, "so the original plan of connecting the first four victims still stands. Tommy, I want you to take over investigating Luke Fitzgerald, while Sarah, Trini and Zac - keep trying to find out information on your victims. Scott and Billy, I want you two to stay here, find out everything you can on this Aesma Daeva and help coordinate the teams. Everybody else, we're got to start knocking suspects off this list. Go door-to-door, start interviewing people. Pretend you're doing an assignment for school or something, anything to help figure out alibis for the last couple of nights."

Everybody nodded, and Jason turned to the Aqua Ranger, standing beside him. "Brendan..."

Brendan raised his hands. "Staying out-of-action as promised," he replied. "I'm heading into the library anyway, I've got an idea I want to check out."

Billy raised his hand. "Jason, I believe having both Scott and Alpha here in the Command Centre would be more than necessary," he said slowly. "Would it be reasonable if I perhaps joined you in the city?"

Jason nodded. "That'd be great. It's probably best if we work in pairs anyway."

"Next question," began Kim. "What happens if we do find Fury, suited-up and ready? Do we call the police, or...?"

"We waste him," said Tommy. "He's a monster."

Ian immediately turned to him. "No, we don't."

"He's a psychopathic serial killer bonded to a three-thousand-year-old demon, what other options have we got?" the Green Ranger asked.

"There's still a human being under that costume," Ian replied. "He's only been active, what, three or four days? I mean, there's a pretty big chance we can get through to him and talk him out this. Convince him to de-bond or something. We're stopping this guy because any loss is one too many, right?"

"I agree," said Jason, then smiled slightly. "Tommy, you can just try to rehabilitate him."

The Green Ranger shrugged. "Why not? I'll use extreme prejudice if necessary."

Jason grinned. "That's the spirit," he said, then turned to the team. "Everybody knows what they're doing?" We all nodded, and he continued. "We can find this guy Rangers. So let's move."

After dividing the suspect list into three, Teresa and Ian teleported north into Currimundi, while Kimberly, Billy, Jason and I travelled into the city, materialising in an empty underground carpark. It was still pretty early, and the city was only just waking up. The shops along the main street were throwing their doors open, the flow of morning traffic was steadily increasing, and restaurant owners were hosing down their sidewalks and setting up for the day.

"Okay," I said, scribbling down notes on the back of the suspect list that Jason and I would be working through, "the best I could come up with is a survey that we can be doing for school about whether people go out at night or eat in, what television shows they watch, you know, the kinds of things that'll tell us if people have a decent alibi for the last few nights."

Kimberly took the sheet and began copying the questions. "It's a start. Can we change these if we have to?"

I nodded, as we passed an electronics store with a row of televisions in the window and Kim handed me the questions back. "Sure. If it works, go for it."

Glancing into the store as we passed, Jason caught sight of the television broadcast and stopped. "Hey guys," he said, "check it out."

We all came to a halt, and looked back through the glass at the televisions.

"A lucky escape for the five latest victims of the serial killer police are calling Fury," came the voice-over, as the camera scrolled down the street where we'd confronted the vigilante last night. "Two as-yet unidentified children attempted a rescue of Fury's victims, before the arrival of the Power Rangers forced the killer to flee the scene. Sergeant Thompson of the Caloundra Police says the Rangers' intervention certainly saved the lives of the five victims, but urges that anybody without superpowers should stay well clear of the killer. However, noted civic libertarian James Pratt has protested the Rangers' involvement, saying the heroes are overstepping their boundaries by interfering with a domestic crime." The screen returned to the newsreader. "And in other news, a successful tip-off from the public has led police to apprehend a criminal wanted in three states for..."

I stepped back from the glass. "Interfering with a domestic crime?" I repeated.

"I wouldn't worry about them," said Jason. "We've got too much to do as it is."

Billy nodded. "Where will you two be this morning, anyway?"

Jason glanced down to our list. "From the looks of it, we've got two people living in the Pumicestone Apartments building, and then we'll be working our way through Golden Beach and into the industrial estate," he replied. "How about you?"

"I expect Kimberly and I will be investigating suspects here in the city for most of the morning," Billy replied.

I raised my wrist, checking my communicator. "At any rate, we'd better get moving. Good luck guys," I said, and Jason and I turned and continued away from them down the street.

Billy watched us leave, before turning back to Kimberly, only to find her staring through the glass at the televisions.

"Kimberly?" Billy asked.

Hearing her name, the Pink Ranger spun around quickly, and smiled. "Sorry Billy, I was just thinking," she said, glancing to the televisions and then back again. "So, where to first?"

"Two of our suspects appear to have residences on the avenue behind the Cultural Centre," Billy said. "We can begin there and move further into the city as we progress."

"Good plan," agreed Kimberly. As they walked, Kimberly glanced at the list of suspects and ran her eyes down the long line of names.

"I know we've got a solid few hours until Fury tries again," she said, turning the page, "but this is going to take like forever."

Billy thought back to the junior Blue Ranger still in the Command Centre. "I'd suggest it will be ultimately more fruitful than spending hours pouring over information regarding the details of mythological and historically false stories," he replied, and Kim couldn't help but notice the tone in his voice.

"You don't like this, do you?" she ventured carefully, as they came to an intersection and began to cross.

Billy shrugged. "It's not particularly a matter of liking anything. I just can't help but feel apprehensive at treating thousands of years worth of what is essentially story-telling as prime evidence in a murder investigation," he said. "Despite what the others said, I think we'd be needlessly expending our time."

Kim smiled. The Blue Ranger must've put some effort into that sentence, she'd understood every word. Almost. "Well why didn't you say something before? Pointed everybody in the right direction?"

Billy shook his head, adjusting his glasses. "I'm afraid it's not that simple Kimberly," he said. "Quantum physics comes to me as easily as the alphabet, but deductive logic? Investigating trails of clues? I simply have to defer."

Hearing the sadness in his voice, Kimberly wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Grateful for the contact, Billy offered a small smile to the Pink Ranger, which she immediately returned.

"I do however agree with Teresa's assertion that this case lies within our jurisdiction," he continued, adjusting his glasses. "And while I am uncomfortable with the notion of investigating ancient cultures for clues to contemporary crimes, rationally the most effective way of approaching this mystery would be to examine every possible angle."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Kim replied. "I think everybody's having to face themselves this time around." She paused, sighing with a smile. "Part of the fun of being a Power Ranger, really."

* * *

"There you go," smiled the librarian, holding the door to the library's study room open and letting Brendan squeeze past. The room had one window overlooking a small park, and three chairs wedged around a wooden desk. "I'll just be outside at the information desk, so I'll make sure nobody interrupts you." 

Brendan grinned the most charming smile he could manage. "Thank you so much for your help," he replied, carefully settling down into one of the seats and dropping his backpack on the floor.

It must have worked, because the librarian immediately chuckled. "Well, it's what I'm here for dear."

"Before you go, could you bring in those files I wanted?" he asked.

The librarian nodded, stepping back outside. She returned a few seconds later, placing several manila folders on the desk. "I can't imagine why such a handsome young man would want to worry about things like this," she cooed.

Brendan shrugged, smile still fixed in place. "It's for school," he explained, "some kind of curriculum thing..."

"Well call me if you need any help," the librarian replied, easing herself out of the room and closing the door behind her.

Once alone, Brendan looked down to the folders the librarian had left for him, and opening the first one, he emptied the contents - dozens and dozens of news-clippings - onto the table.

The librarian was right, he thought with a mental frown, as he began to sort the clippings into separate piles. These _were_ depressing. The articles were about kidnappings and murders, drug-raids and fatal car accidents, all random senseless acts of death and destruction.

Still, that was the reason he was here. Ever since yesterday morning, there had been something bugging him about the case - specifically, something about the places where Fury left his victims. Why on Earth would he go to all the trouble of kidnapping people, tying them to stakes and then setting them on fire if he was just going to leave the bodies at random locations around the city. It just didn't make sense, particularly not for the control-freak profile they were building for Fury.

But if Teresa was right, and Fury was doing all this to send a message to the underworld, then there had to be more to it. Brendan had a theory that these places, the alley behind Caloundra Hotel and the warehouse last night, were important to Fury somehow - they meant something, even if the Rangers hadn't figured it out yet. And so taking a notepad and pencil out of his backpack, he pulled the closest stack of clippings towards him and began making notes.

It was only when he'd reached the third folder that he knew he'd been right. But by then, he'd completely lost track of time, and it wasn't until a sudden knock on the door that he glanced to his communicator and realised he'd been there an hour and a half.

"It's okay, come in," he called, and Kimberly stepped into the room.

"Hey," she said softly. "Thought you could use some company. Had to fight my way past the librarian to get in here, though..."

Brendan grinned as she sat down opposite him. "I think I turned on the Watts charm a little too high," he said. "How's your day been?"

"Billy and I are working our way down our suspect list, but it's taking way too long," Kimberly replied. "We're about half-way through. Billy's just getting us some lunch from the bakery across the street." Kimberly paused, glancing around at the news clippings covering every square centimetre of space in the room - on the table, the chair beside Brendan, even the floor. "I take it you've had a little more success?" she asked.

Brendan nodded. "You can say that," he replied, and picking up the three closest clippings, he passed them to Kim. "Check this out."

Kim glanced through the stories, her eyes growing wide. "Brendan, you know what this means?" she asked, looking back up to him.

"You bet," he replied. "There's a method to Fury's madness. Listen, I gotta get these notes copied, but you couldn't call Jason and let him know what I've found? Have him tell everybody to meet back in the Command Centre in ten minutes."

"You got it," nodded Kim, and as the Pink Ranger raised her communicator, Brendan grabbed his notepad and the three articles he'd shown Kimberly and headed for the nearby photocopy room.

Out-of-action or not, he thought, he hadn't just given the team a lead - he'd found them a _map_.

* * *

"The thing is, we always assumed the places Fury left his victims were just chosen for convenience or whatever," explained Brendan, standing under Zordon's plasma tube and addressing the group once we'd all arrived back in the Command Centre. 

"The truth is," I said, "we hadn't really worried about them at all."

"Exactly," said Brendan. "Exactly. But think about it - Teresa's right. By leaving the victims where they're clearly visible, Fury is leaving a message, a warning - beware my wrath. This is what'll happen to you if you break the law." He paused, glancing around the room. "And the places he leaves his victims are just as much a part of that message as everything else. Here, check this out," and he handed the photocopied articles to the group.

Ian looked up from the article Brendan had given him. "Hey, this is about the Caloundra Hotel," he said.

Brendan nodded, then turned to the rest of us. "About six months ago, there was a drunken brawl in the alleyway behind the hotel," he said. "Somebody pulled a knife out, and three people were injured. One of them was stabbed in the chest and later died in hospital."

There was a shocked silence in the room, and everybody began to crowd around whoever was holding the photocopied stories.

"The house in Golden Beach where Fury left his victims the second night," Brendan continued, "was the site of a murder/suicide a few months back. And the warehouse where we found Fury last night was the scene of a major drug-bust two weeks ago. And that's the link - every one of these crime scenes has been the site of horrible crime some time in the past, which is way too much of a coincidence to not mean anything."

Jason looked up from the article on the drug-bust at the warehouse. "Brendan, this is awesome work."

"Thanks," Brendan smiled, and ran a hand through his curly hair. "While I was as the library, I made a list of all the locations in Caloundra where terrible crimes have taken place in the last six months. So," and he pulled his notepad from his backpack, "we can figure out where he's likely to be tonight. I'll head back there later and go through the rest of the articles, I asked the librarian to keep them for me."

Teresa nodded. "Brendan, you did a great job."

He shook his head. "That's not all," he said. "What bugged me most about Fury is that his first four victims were killed before he set fire to them. So taking Fury's impressive self-control into account, I present the following theory - he kidnaps these people during the day, and keeps them somewhere until sunset. Maybe his home or something, I don't know. But during the first night, when he realised exactly what he was capable of, he went to get them and just lost it. He killed them out of sheer anger - but he still needed them, so he took the bodies and set fire to them anyway." Brendan paused and shrugged. "That's about all I've got. I don't know how much help that's all likely to be..."

"No, that was fantastic," nodded Trini. "You just wrapped up about five loose ends."

"Definitely," I agreed, and glanced to my communicator. "Hey guys, how about we break for lunch before we go back to work? I could kill for one of Ernie's hamburgers right about now. Uh, pun not intended."

After lunch at the Youth Centre, where we decided where we'd all meet at the end of the day ("My place," Brendan had said. "My mother and sister are in Brisbane today and won't be back until late tonight.") the twelve of us returned to our various investigations. Jason and I had gotten interviewing suspects down to a fine art. By now, we only had several more people in Golden Beach to interview. We spent the remaining hours of the afternoon eliminating suspects, but we'd still only managed to work our way through three-quarters of the names on our list before the sun began to set, and it was time to meet up with everybody.

Scott was the last to arrive at Brendan's place, teleporting into the lounge-room with a stack of papers under his arm.

"Hey guys," he said, dropping into a spare seat beside his sister. "Sorry I'm late, Alpha found a text on Aesma Daeva just as I was about to leave, and it took a while to translate it."

Standing at one side of the room and holding court, Jason shook his head. "That's cool Scott," he said. "In fact I think what we're most interested in is what you found on our friendly neighbourhood demon."

Scott nodded. "Alpha and I spent the day looking through the archives for any references to Aesma Daeva," he said. "He had to teach me the computer system as we went, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. There wasn't really that much new information, but we did find something important. Aesma Daeva was specifically said to be a night-demon - Alpha found a reference to him being able to walk between shadows."

"Which means he can teleport between areas of darkness?" asked Trini.

"Pretty much, yes," Scott replied. "That's why Fury only appears in public during night, and why he was able to vanish into the shadow of the warehouse when we confronted him."

Jason nodded. "Good work Scott. How'd everybody else go?"

Teresa spoke up. "Ian and I got through about thirty people on our list. Twenty-two were definitely somewhere else for the last few nights and there were eight we couldn't find or who couldn't provide solid alibis."

Ian nodded. "We ran out of time to interview the last ten," he said.

"That's pretty much now our day went too," I said. "There were a few people we couldn't find, but nothing definite. Kim?"

"The same," said the Pink Ranger. "Actually Billy and I had to interview about three people living on the same street, and the police had a radar trap nearby for speeding cars. I was worried they'd see us, but they didn't notice. And some of the suspects you gave us...Billy and I spent fifteen minutes talking to a Swedish immigrant whose pet turtle is actually his wife, but that's a very long story involving an expired Visa and a dodgy residency claim that we heard at least three times over tea."

Teresa laughed. "I don't suppose you interrogated the turtle?"

Billy nodded. "She was at a local veterinarian last night," he replied with a small smile. "A remarkably solid alibi, all things considered."

Jason grinned, then looked to Tommy, Trini, Zac and Sarah. "I don't suppose you guys are any closer to connecting the original four victims?"

Everybody shook their heads. "I managed to find a bit of information about the family who died in the fire Lee was charged for," Sarah explained. "It turns out the family had a daughter who escaped the blaze with only minor burns. I thought she might've returned for revenge, but she lives in Sydney with her grandparents."

"At least we got through the majority of our suspects," said Ian.

"And given that Fury will definitely be back tonight, all we need to worry about is where he's likely to be," said Brendan. "I went through and copied out a list of likely addresses, and split it up into eleven. There's really not that many, so we can patrol the city pretty easily."

He passed around lists of addresses, keeping one for both Ian and himself (knowing that he'd have to partner up with somebody), and once we'd all familiarised ourselves with our areas, we raised our communicators, lightly tapped the top buttons and disappeared from the house in twelve bright flashes of light.

* * *

For what felt like the twentieth time that week, we teleported into the city, materialising in the empty carpark between the library and the dental clinic where my mother worked. The street beyond appeared to be empty. It was a quiet night. A soft breeze was blowing inland from the beach, the stars shone from behind a thin veil of cloud, and the full moon rested high in the sky. 

"It's barely seven," said Trini, as we left the empty lot. "I've never seen Caloundra so quiet."

Ian smiled. "I guess the streets have a tendency to clear when there's a serial killer on the loose."

"What does that make the twelve of us?" I said softly.

"Either we're doing the right thing, or we're nuts," replied Jason, and looked up to the sky. "My grandmother always said the full moon brought out the crazy people."

"Let's hope she was right," said Zac.

The group reached the corner, and was about to split up when a light rain began to fall, glowing in the streetlights and covering us in a soft blanket of mist.

"What better drama than the unexpected addition of light precipitation," murmured Billy, and everybody turned to look at him.

"He means it's a good night for rain," said Trini.

Sarah glanced up to the sky. "Given Fury's usual methods, a torrential downpour probably wouldn't go astray."

Jason looked around the group. "Okay guys, same deal as last night," he said, and then tapped his communicator. "Check in every few minutes, and teleport to safety if you need to." He paused, and nodded. "Let's break."

With our lists in hand, the group split up, everybody crossing away from each other and disappearing into the mist. Tommy and Kimberly both turned towards the main street of town, the Green Ranger lost in thought.

"Kim?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really think we're doing the right thing with Fury?"

Kimberly turned to him. "What, you mean like going after him and not leaving him for the police?"

Tommy shook his head. "No, more like treating him like an average law-breaker, somebody we can just turn over to the police, even with all the powers he has."

Kim took a second to think, and then nodded. "Yeah, I think we are," she replied. "I mean, underneath the demon there's a guy, somebody with parents and brothers and sisters, and maybe even a wife and kids. Whatever he did to give himself superpowers, it sounds like just a curse, and it'll probably be pretty easy to break." She glanced up to the Green Ranger and smiled. "They usually are, after all. Why do you ask?"

Tommy shrugged. "I'm just worried, that's all."

Kim grinned. "Yeah, but you worry too much," she said, resting a hand lightly in his. "C'mon."

* * *

After a brief detour around the city council building, Sarah continued down the main street of the city towards the police station. Neither location had been on the list of addresses Brendan had provided the team, but maybe Fury would be on an anti-corruption kick tonight, and it was worth checking out. Thinking big seemed to be his style anyway. 

She'd just reached the corner facing the police station when her communicator beeped.

"Guys," came Ian's voice, "I think I've got something, near the airport. You can probably see it from where you are."

Mirroring ten other people across the city, Sarah looked west, and everybody registered the orange glow on the horizon at the same time.

"What is that?" crackled Zac's voice.

"A tire yard and empty factory that both just went up in smoke," replied Ian.

"Do you think it's Fury?" asked Scott.

"I don't think so," came the reply. "Everything else Fury has done has been up close and personal. Torching empty buildings and leaving ain't his style. Brendan and I will check it out, but I'd say Fury's trying to out-think us. Everybody else, head north," and the communicator fell silent.

Sarah glanced down to her list, even as coloured streaks of light began to flash through the sky above. The next address was a park in Aroona, only a few blocks away from her house. There used to be an old wooden house on the property, but it was rumoured that the owner of a nearby shop had burnt the place down to make way for a carpark. But in spite of generous offers for the property, or maybe even because of them, the family gave the land to the council to add to existing parkland. Ducking into a nearby alley, Sarah reached for her communicator and teleported from the scene in a blast of purple light.

The city flashed beneath her, and there was solid ground under her feet a second later. She'd only taken a single step forward when a scream shattered the stillness of the night, and Sarah immediately spun around in the direction of the sound.

She took in the sight that met her in an instant - five people, all tied to thick wooden stakes a short distance away and surrounded by kindling. Fury was standing in front of the centre stake, a ball of flame at his fingertips even as the victims begged for their lives - and Sarah immediately raised her communicator and spoke.

"Guys, I've found him!" she cried. "He's at Century Park in Aroona!" And without waiting for a reply, knowing we were on our way, Sarah reached for her morpher.

"Rhamphorynchus!"

Fury didn't notice the sudden explosion of purple light behind him, as he raised his arm and prepared to incinerate the man he was facing.

"Please," the man begged, watching Fury in wide-eyed terror. "You can't do this...I don't want to die...please, I'll do anything..."

Fury shook his head. "Plead all you wish," he said, "for all the difference it will make. You escaped once from a toothless tiger, but you will not escape from me," and hesitating only a fraction of a second longer, he launched his blast of flame...

...only to grunt in surprise as Sarah slammed her Power Mace into the vigilante's wrist, sending the fireball spiraling off course where it blasted a crater in the grass and sent flaming debris into the air. Several burning pieces fell into the kindling stacked around the first victim, and within a few seconds had set it alight.

Fury bellowed and swung out angrily at the Purple Ranger, but Sarah lightly backflipped out of the way.

"I warned you last night," growled the vigilante, spinning around to face her, "the Power Rangers will not be interfering with Fury's divine quest!"

"Then you're in for a big disappointment," she replied.

Fury roared and charged the Purple Ranger, immediately lashing out with his fists. Sarah easily ducked the blows, smashing away his right fist with her mace and aiming the weapon for his shoulder, but Fury stepped around the attack, striking her arm with his forearm before slamming his palm into her stomach. Sarah crashed to the ground a few metres away but was instantly back on her feet, leaping towards Fury with a high kick. The vigilante stepped around the move, and as Sarah followed him to the side, he blocked her mace with one arm and landed a rapid blow to her shoulder, sending her stumbling backwards once again.

I materialised in the park in a flash of orange light as Sarah rolled to a stop and climbed to her feet, and was about to morph and race to her aid when I noticed two of the victims were already well and truly alight, coughing from the smoke as they tried to scream for help. Even as I watched, the fire was just starting to spread to the third victim in line. Even if Sarah couldn't handle Fury, the other Rangers would be here soon - the victims needed my help.

"Stegosaurus!"

Summoning my Power Sword with a thought, I raced over towards the first of the stakes. I couldn't see anything within reach that would extinguish the flames - a fire hydrant, garden hose, pond, anything - so I had to go with option two and fast.

The woman tied to the stake was just slipping into unconsciousness from the smoke when I reached her. I swung wide and sliced through the rope, catching her as she fell, dragging her away from the fire and extinguishing the flames that had taken hold of her shoes and clothes. I quickly glanced over her but didn't have time to stop and check - I just had to hope she'd be okay.

Leaping to my feet, I saw the other two fires were by now roaring out of control - dropping my sword, I grabbed hold of the rope around the stakes, one with each hand, and yanked them backwards with all my strength, physically snapping them both at their bases and dragging the victims to safety. After laying them on the grass and frantically patting out the flames, I let out a small sigh of relief - they were both safe.

Rolling to a stop in front of the three fires, Sarah shakily climbed to her feet as Fury steadily advanced.

"It's all over Fury," came a sudden voice, and the vigilante spun around to see the White, Blue, Grey and Orange Rangers touch down on the grass in a circle around him, while behind us, the Aqua Ranger was busy helping the trapped victims.

"We're here to bring you in," I finished.

Teresa nodded. "Your killing spree ends as of right now," she added.

Fury turned slowly to face us all, his gaze settling on the White Ranger. "How noble of you," he said contemptuously, "but if you wish to stop Fury, you're all very welcome to try." And with that, he stepped sideways into shadow and vanished.

Ian glanced around. "Uh...that didn't really..."

Without warning Fury exploded out of the shadows behind us, charging the unprepared team with a roar of battle, sweeping Teresa and Scott into the air and launching a barrage of fireballs at Sarah and Ian, forcing them both to retreat. I raised my sword and leaped towards him, but Fury spun around to face me, raised his fists and smashed me out of the air, sending me hurtling backwards. I saw the flimsy maintenance shed approaching and by then it was too late - I crashed clean through a wall without slowing down, and landed in a pile of twisted rubble as the entire structure collapsed on my head.

Raising my arms and throwing wreckage aside, I climbed to my feet amid a cloud of dust, shaking off pieces of debris.

"I'm sick of buildings collapsing on me!" I cried, and thundered back across the park towards Fury. Reaching the warrior, I carved the blade through the air towards him, but Fury ducked under the sword, and adjusting my aim midswing, I swung again. He stepped to the side, avoiding the blade, and when I turned and struck out again, he caught my wrist with one hand and smashed the other into my chest, the blow lifting me off my feet and sending me to the ground.

Fury watched as I rolled to a stop. "Children with the powers of gods," he sneered, as Teresa and Ian helped me to my feet. "Pathetic. There is so much you could do to cleanse the Earth of its darkest hearts..."

"Agreed," came a voice, and Fury turned to see a red blur rapidly approaching. "You first," and the Red Ranger slammed into Fury with all the force of a small meteor, the impact lifting Fury off his feet and launching him backwards through the air. Fury crashed to the grass as the six Senior Rangers gathered around the Junior Team, and climbing to his feet, the vigilante glared at the team of heroes now facing him, his eyes burning bright with hatred.

"We're not the police," said Zac, "but you had better believe your armour-clad butt is under arrest."

"Nobody else dies at your hand," nodded Trini.

"Really?" Fury asked, his voice smoldering.

"There's no place left to run," said Tommy. "So either come quietly, or we'll take you in by force - there is no other option."

Fury laughed, a frighteningly malevolent sound. "Well Green Ranger, you should know there's always another option. Tomorrow night, Rangers, injustice will burn at my hand, and the world will see clearly who has the true power," and before we could stop him, the vigilante stepped back, cast a final hateful glare towards the five victims over with Brendan, fell into shadow and disappeared into the night.


	8. Interlude 4

**Interlude Four**

"...And it's five past seven on this beautiful and, well, rainy night here in Caloundra. You're with Zach Leonard, Sunshine FM's roving reporter, out and about talking to the people of the city. Our controversial subject tonight - the city's own homegrown team of superheroes and their involvement in the pursuit of the serial killer Fury. What do you think? Give us a call, or come down and have a chat. Here's a willing victim. Ma'am! Ma'am, what do you think about the Power Rangers helping the police track down Fury?"

"Honestly? No, I think it sets a bad precedent. What next, will the Power Rangers be handing out traffic fines? Do they use warrants, I mean, do they even understand the law? So no, I don't think it's a good thing."

"Thanks Ma'am. Okay, I'm just heading over to an outdoor bistro. Hi folks, it's Z-man here from Sunshine FM. Ma'am, what's your take on the Power Rangers helping the police with this Fury guy?"

"You know, I actually think it's a good thing. There are some scary people out there, and personally, I feel a lot safer knowing the police _and_ the Rangers are looking out for us."

"And you sir?"

"I agree with my wife on this one. Granted a serial killer might be too normal for a team of superheroes, but if the police are having trouble tracking down Fury, then for the sake of the people he's killing, it's certainly a good thing the Rangers are here."

"Thank you both. Oh, and that veal by the way looks delicious. Okay, here's a teenage couple who look like they're heading somewhere important. Hey guys, if I could just grab you for a second, what do you think about the Power Rangers...?"

"Love 'em. They're awesome. Particularly the Pink Ranger, she's amazing."

"Tommy!"

"And you ma'am?"

"Yeah, well, I gotta admit they're totally cool. And you know, I think the Green Ranger is pretty unreal."

"Well folks, you heard it here first. Back to Joe in the studio for some quick words from our sponsors..."


	9. Chapter 5

Author's notes -- Koulagirl, that's fine. As long as you're still enjoying the show, I'm happy :). Onto chapter five we go (couple of big clues to the killer's identity contained within)...

**Chapter Five**

"Damn it," I said, glancing around the Central Chamber, "we had the perfect opportunity to bring him down, and we missed it. Again."

Teresa turned to me. "Well that teleporting between shadows is a tricky thing to get around," she replied. "And we still don't know the first thing about the guy, so it's not like he'd listen to us anyway."

"And what did Fury mean that 'injustice' will burn?" asked Ian.

I shrugged. "At least we know we'll have another shot," I said. "Even if he is planning something particularly nasty."

"_And_ he's angry as heck," noted Scott.

Two teleportation trails suddenly blazed down through the roof, and Jason and Tommy materialised in the centre of the room, demorphing a second later.

Sarah turned to them. "How are they?"

"All the victims are fine," Jason nodded. "One of them had passed out from smoke inhalation, but the paramedics managed to revive her." Jason looked to me. "Good work with the fast rescue."

"Thanks," I replied. "I'm just glad I made it in time and they're all okay. Pity we didn't do so well with Fury."

"Well he might've gotten away," Jason replied, "but at least we prevented him from killing anyone."

Brendan nodded. "We were just saying that if it wasn't for his shadow-trick, we'd have had him."

"Yeah," agreed Kim. "That's definitely a totally unfair advantage. We know he'll be back tomorrow night, can't we just, I don't know, turn the lights on before he shows up or something...?"

Jason and Billy turned to each other, the same idea suddenly occurring to them both. "Kimberly, that's brilliant," smiled Jason. "Billy, can you make it happen?"

The Blue Ranger nodded. "Affirmative," he said. "It may take time to construct the apparatus to be mobile, which I assume would be preferable for tactical reasons, but we have a twenty-three hour window before Fury's next likely appearance, so it's certainly probable."

"That's a yes," replied Trini, noting Jason's raised brow.

Jason nodded. "Awesome," he replied, and looked around the room. "I don't suppose anybody managed to catch his wallet while we were fighting or anything...?"

Standing at the side of the room, Sarah looked up. "Guys," she began, glancing around the room, "this is just an idea, but I think we're looking at this all wrong. Something Fury said tonight, about the law being a 'toothless tiger', it made me stop and think. There's more to his crime-spree than we first figured."

"There is?" asked Zac.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah. These murders are personal to Fury - this is a vendetta, I agree. But everything he's done so far, leaving the victims in public places, fighting off the twelve of us, and that threat he made tonight - he's aiming for some kind of bigger picture. He isn't just some crazed citizen fulfilling his civic duty to act where the law has failed. He's acting _because_ the law has failed. This retribution, it's not against criminals but against the legal system itself."

"Are you sure...?" I asked.

"I am now. Singling these people out, all of them well-known for escaping justice - we recognised the first four by name alone, remember? - making a spectacle out of them, punishing them, he's demonstrating the failure of the system. And I'd be willing to bet, just like it failed him."

By now, everybody was listening, and the room was silent. "Alpha," Sarah began, "I think we can narrow down our suspect list even more to anybody who's been seriously wronged by the legal system. People imprisoned wrongly, or who suffered at the hands of a criminal who got away with it, that kind of thing."

"Sarah, you're right," said Scott. "That makes perfect sense."

Trini nodded. "Definitely. The police keep most of their records on computer these days, so it shouldn't take long to hack into their system, or even to do a search for names in recent news," she said. "Alpha, if you can pull up the suspect list, Billy and I can help Sarah see who fits the new profile."

Brendan grinned. "Damn we're good. I wonder if the FBI is hiring this week..."

"Redefining our parameters should take approximately twenty minutes," said Billy, as Alpha turned to the console nearest him and began typing. "We'll let everybody know when we're finished," and Sarah joined Billy, Trini and Alpha at the computer, and the four of them began comparing notes.

I saw the doors slide open and several of the Rangers head out into the hallway, probably heading into the training room or outside for some fresh air. Scott was standing over near the doors, going through more information on Aesma Daeva, and I wandered over to him.

"Hey Scott," I said, and he turned to me, "I'm just gonna go for a walk and get some air. Can you make sure nobody locks me outside or something?"

Scott laughed. "That's okay, Teresa went outside before. I'll just come and get you both when we're done in here."

"Thanks," I replied, and left the Central Chamber.

A gentle breeze was drifting in through the two stone doors, and outside the night air was cool and fresh. A million points of light blanketed the desert floor below in a soft, silver glow, and the full moon had just risen behind one of the peaks on the horizon. Nights were silent out here. Looking around, I saw Teresa sitting on the ground with her back against the building a few steps away from the open doors, gazing up at the sky.

"Counting stars?" I asked, walking over.

Teresa turned to me and smiled, starlight reflecting in her eyes. "Just thinking," she replied. "It's nice out here."

I sat down beside her. "I know what you mean. Solving our mystery and saving the world, or more general pondering?"

Teresa laughed. "More general. I'm not that good," she replied, and looked back up at the stars. I didn't want to disturb the silence and didn't reply. We sat there for a few moments, lost in the quiet. A flock of desert bats swooped past above us, their noisy screeches the only sound in the night.

I turned back to Teresa. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"No, go right ahead."

"It's just, if it wasn't for you, about half of us wouldn't even be bothering with this Fury guy," I began. "Why are you so passionate about this one? I just, I don't think I've ever seen you so driven before."

Teresa nodded. "That's a fair question," she said. "Tell me, what's the one single memory of being a Ranger that's going to stick in your mind forever?"

I took a second to think. "Morphing for the very first time," I said, picturing it as I spoke. "You and Aaron were on one side, Sarah and Scott were on the other, and Jason was standing in front of me. And then when I opened the morpher, it was like I was on fire, you know, my heart was racing. It felt like I'd just grabbed hold of a thousand volt cable or something, which according to Billy and Alpha is actually more or less what happened. What about you?"

Teresa replied without hesitation. "It was that guy in Taloqan, the one we couldn't save," she said softly. "I can still see him lying there. When we got home, I just kept thinking, what if we'd gotten there five minutes or ten minutes earlier? Maybe, I don't know, maybe we could've saved him. That's the kind of thing we're supposed to stop from happening, right?" Teresa paused, looking out over the desert. "I guess when I promised Jason I'd be strong, I was promising myself that I wouldn't let something like that happen again. And I'm going to do everything I can to keep that promise. Ian said it himself this morning - one life lost is one too many."

I looked away then, suddenly ashamed. "I'm glad somebody's the heart of this team," I said with a small smile, looking back to the White Ranger.

Teresa smiled, and was about to reply when we heard the gravel crunch behind us.

"Hey," called Scott, stepping out into the night. "They sent me out to get you, we're almost done inside."

"Thanks," Teresa said, and climbing to our feet, we followed Scott back into the Command Centre, the huge stone doors closing automatically behind us. Billy, Trini, Sarah and Alpha were standing by a console to the side of the room, while everybody else was standing in a semi-circle around them.

"That's everybody," said Scott, as we entered. "I don't suppose you've narrowed it down to something like Colonel Mustard in the dining room with the lead pipe?"

"Not yet," smiled Trini.

"I still say Mustard was a CIA plant," muttered Brendan.

Jason laughed, but shook his head. "Anyway," he said, "How did you guys go?"

"The computer is still printing our reconfigured data," Billy replied. "But we utilised the new angle Sarah suggested to redefine our parameters - anyone with a decidedly negative experience with the law. People wrongly or even rightly imprisoned, people who suffered from violent crime while the offenders were never punished, those sorts of details. We ignored minor infringements like parking fines and the like." He paused, then looked to Jason and added quickly, "Except when the suspect had a history of violence or psychiatric health issues. I assumed those factors may have some bearing on the case. We also included judges, lawyers and other people working within the system who may be frustrated at its failures. It was only an idea though, we don't have to..."

"No," said Jason, nodding, "no Bill, that's really great."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I never would've thought of that."

Billy smiled, adjusting his glasses. "Thank you."

"So," began Trini, picking up the stack of print-outs and handing it to Kimberly, standing silently beside her. "We've got a new suspect list to work from."

"Ayeyiyi!" said Alpha. "We'd narrowed down your search to fifty-seven people, and taking into account the suspects you eliminated today, the total is thirty-six. It's still a lot..."

"But thirty-six is better than a hundred," nodded Sarah. "Wow guys, my dentist is on this list."

"The florist who lives across the road from me is on this list," added Zac. "The high-school guidance councillor too. I can't believe it could be some of these people."

"That's probably what they say about the twelve of us and the Power Rangers," smiled Tommy.

"Well, we've already divided the list into specific groups, depending on where they live," said Trini. "And we can keep narrowing them down tomorrow, right?" She turned to Kim beside her for affirmation, but the Pink Ranger didn't reply, staring silently at a point on the ground. "Kim? What's wrong?"

Kimberly looked up quickly, and seeing us all, waved her hand. "Nothing guys, I'm cool."

"No way Kim," said Brendan. "You've been quiet all day, and that alone tells us the world is likely to end. Again." Kimberly smiled. "So c'mon, hit us."

"Okay," she began, glancing earnestly around the room before looking up to Zordon. "Listening to those libertarian guys today, it got me thinking. Like, what is it that makes us _that_ different from this Fury guy?"

"The fact that we're not complete psychopaths?" ventured Brendan.

I nodded. "Yeah Kim, you shouldn't listen to those kind of people anyway."

"I'm totally serious," she said, turning to us. "We saddle up and kill monsters without a second thought, all the time. We don't obey any laws, we don't answer to the police or anybody. I mean, what's stopping us from one day acting like this guy?"

"You mean," began Tommy gently, "what's stopping us from _becoming_ this guy?"

Kim nodded, then looked up to Zordon. "Exactly."

Watching from within his plasma tube, Zordon nodded slowly. "I understand your concerns, Kimberly," he began. "The twelve of you use your powers to destroy threats as quickly and as efficiently as possible, often without allowing them a second chance." He paused. "And I dare say some of you even enjoy it," he added, glancing quickly to where Zac, Brendan and I were standing. "It is indeed a fine line you walk, Rangers."

Sarah smiled weakly. "Thanks for the affirmation, Zordon."

The sage returned her smile. "I wasn't finished," he said, looking back to Kim. "You've told me your troubles, and I thank you for your trust. But now, if I may ask you one question in return - why?"

Silence followed. I'm pretty sure nobody quite knew how to answer Zordon, so he continued. "Why, Rangers, why do you fight and destroy these monsters? Why do you devote so much time and energy to training yourselves for battle? Why did Peter and Jason fight Rita Repulsa to prevent her from opening the Gateway, and why were the rest of you so determined to defeat the grey warrior? And just this week, why did the twelve of you unanimously decide to lead the rescue effort into Taloqan?"

There was another moment of silence in the room. It was like we'd all been given an on-the-spot exam we hadn't studied for.

"With the earthquake at least," said Trini, "we were the only ones who could've gotten there in time."

Zac nodded. "Not to mention, the only ones with the kind of resources that could carry out something that big and that fast."

"Yeah," agreed Scott. "And when the grey warrior came after Ian, we had to do something. We couldn't just sit back and not help a friend in danger."

"Exactly," I nodded. "We did all those things because nobody else could." And with that statement, the twelve of us felt a realisation dawn in our minds. "We did them because we _had_ to," I said softly.

"Precisely," said Zordon. "All the actions you take as Rangers are because there is nobody else on Earth who can. You act, you fight and you destroy, only because necessity demands it. You protect those in dire need, while this vigilante acts out of hatred and vengeance, a want and love of killing - this separates him from you. Even if your respective methods were similar to his, the simple reason of why you go into battle should make all the difference in the world." He paused, before continuing. "Responsibility, Rangers, often means _not_ doing exactly what you're _capable_ of doing."

Kim smiled and looked up to our mentor. "Thanks Zordon, it means a lot to hear that."

Sarah nodded. "Now _that_ was an affirmation," she grinned.

"You're welcome," the sage replied. "Furthermore, there is no existing body on Earth that has jurisdiction regarding what you twelve fight against, hence the fact you are not subject to any military or government body is a strength rather than a weakness. Now, twice in two nights you've thwarted Fury's plans, and this will only make him a far more dangerous adversary tomorrow. But there is nothing more for us to do tonight. Everything else can wait until the morning."

We all nodded, seeing the sense in this. I figured everybody was pretty drained, and Zordon was right, a break would give us all thinking time. Wishing each other, "Good night," everybody began teleporting out in streaks of bright light, but as I reached for my communicator, Jason tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey," he began. "You want to head into the training room and do a bit of sparring? I think I just think better..."

"When you're pounding the stuffing out of something?" I asked.

Jason laughed. "Yeah, pretty much."

We told Alpha and Zordon we'd still be in the Command Centre if they needed us, and leaving the Central Chamber, we walked out into the hallway and down away from the entrance of the building to a door on the right. The sparring area inside was a wide circular room under a high ceiling, with soft lighting, white walls and several weapon racks over on one side. The floor itself always amazed me. Zordon had said it was made from textiles not found on Earth - it was solid to stand on, but felt far softer when you landed on it headfirst.

I dropped my backpack by the door and followed Jason over to the centre of the room.

"Don't break too many bones," I said. "It's been a long day."

Jason smiled. "I'll be careful," and without waiting any longer, swung high with a left jab. I dodged his fist and he aimed low with a judo chop - I blocked the move, batted his fist away, and blocked his other arm with my forearm. "It's just, I don't know..." He withdrew his left arm and attacked with his right - I knocked it away, struck his left wrist with my right and stepped around a chest-high swipe. "It's strange, why he's doing what he's doing."

He followed me to the side, aiming high with his left fist and swinging low with his right. I blocked both moves with one arm and jabbed my fist towards his solar plexus, but he stepped aside, catching my fist and spinning my arm away from him. I somersaulted to the side, forcing him to let go of my arm, and regained my footing.

"You think he's got a motive other than 'Fear my wrath evildoers'?" I asked, charging back towards him. He nimbly stepped around a high kick, ducked under a wide roundhouse sweep, struck away my left arm and landed a stinging blow to my shoulder.

"First blood," he grinned.

"Keep 'em coming," I said, and we continued trading blows. Sparring with Jason was impossible to describe. Everything a spinning blur, punches and kicks rolling back and forth, neither of us trying to inflict real damage despite the ease with which we could have. He aimed high with both fists - I turned to the side and dodged between them both, slapped his fists away and tried for a roundhouse punch that was promptly danced around. I spun back around aiming a sharp left backhand, but he smashed away my hand and landed another blow on my shoulder, before a tap to my chest sent me stumbling.

"Not unusual in _that_ way," he said, as I recovered. "His motive is pretty much 'kill the badguys', I agree, I just..." I leaped forward and attacked again, raining down blow-after-blow which Jason blocked and batted away. "It's like he's still trying to do the right thing, despite murdering these people." He caught my fist and slapped it aside, landing a blow on my other arm and forcing me on the defensive. "And there's gotta be a reason for that, some kind of moral core that we can appeal to."

I hopped back, balancing on one foot briefly, before leaping forward, kicking high and finding nothing but air. Jason attacked again as I landed. I dodged a high punch and blocked a left judo chop, but was too slow to counter his right as he landed a solid blow to my ribs and sent me crashing to the ground out of breath.

Jason hung back as I slowly climbed to my feet. "C'mon Pete, why are you losing?" he asked.

I shrugged, panting. Always the teacher... "Because you're beating the crud out of me?"

Jason smiled. "Yes and no. Think about how I've been fighting."

Realising he must have been referring to something, I stopped and briefly played the last few minutes back in my head. Jason was right - I couldn't remember him using his feet or legs at all. "You're only attacking using your upper body," I said.

He nodded. "And you're trying to best me using brute force. It's not gonna happen. All else being equal, you're still four years younger, and not as strong. Using brute force against someone with a strength advantage will get you nowhere. Remember that," he said, raising his hands to emphasise the point. "If you ever demorph mid-battle, you're still only eleven, and strength alone won't win a fight."

I suddenly realised what he was telling me. "Like Fury. We can't beat him with sheer power, can we?"

Jason shook his head. "No, we can't. But that isn't everything we've got," he said, then smiled mischievously. "Now c'mon, attack me again."

I took a step forward then stopped, a smile of realisation crossing my face. "No," I said. "You attack me."

The Red Ranger grinned. "Lesson one - never fight on your opponent's terms. Always force them to fight on yours," and he slowly advanced.

"I've been a Ranger for months, and just _now_ you're getting to lesson one?" I asked.

He laughed, and resumed the attack. Reaching me, he swung high - I countered the attack, blocking his fist and striking his other hand away. He swung a high roundhouse punch, but I stepped back, drawing him towards me. He realising what I was doing - I saw him smile - and he swung again, but I'd been right. He was only using his arms and hands, attacking with punches and chops, barely moving his feet and leaving his lower body unguarded.

I ducked under a high punch and landed several rapid blows on his stomach. He grunted and struck at my fists but I danced back out of range. Following me forward, he attacked with his right, but I spun to the side and knocked him back with a low kick. Striking away a blow with one foot, I retaliated with the other, and without slowing down, I dodged a final swipe, spun around on the spot and plowed my foot into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and taking him to the ground.

Even as he fell, Jason was laughing. "By jove, I think he's got it!" he cried.

I smiled, offering him my hand and helping him to his feet. "I didn't get you too hard, did I?"

He shook his head. "Not at all, that was a great combination," he said. "Skill beats power any day of the week, never forget it." He wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked me in the eye. "Tomorrow we're gonna confront Fury again, and we're definitely gonna be on his kill-list. We've only got one day to stop him." He paused, and smiled. "And you know what? I think we might just do it."


	10. Interlude 5

**Interlude Five**

**Aesma Daeva -**

"_Fury." One of the Daevas, he is the demon of anger, wrath and revenge. His enmity is mainly directed towards the cow. He is the personification of violence, and revels in conflict and war. Together with the demon of death, Asto Vidatu, he tries to catch the souls of the deceased as they rise to heaven. His eternal opponent is Sraosa._

(online Middle Eastern mythology reference)


	11. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Hey, I'm just heading out," called Brendan, pausing at the front door. "I'll be home sometime tonight." His hand on the door, he waited for a reply that never came. Indeed, the house was completely silent except for the feint hum of a television set somewhere within. Leaving his backpack by the door, Brendan turned and headed back inside.

He found his quarry in the loungeroom. Beth Watts was curled up on the couch silently watching the television. She must've been half-way through breakfast when the morning news had caught her attention; her dark shoulder-length hair had been hastily tied in a ponytail, her bathrobe and fuzzy slippers were still firmly in place and a cup of coffee was steaming on the table, forgotten. Brendan smiled - during term, it was always impossible to imagine teachers letting their hair down over the holidays as much as the students, but he was reminded every break.

Stepping slowly into the room, he glanced to the television and recognised from first-hand memory what had captured his mother's attention - the ruined city of Taloqan. It was the first time he'd stopped to catch some television the whole week, actually - the camera was sweeping slowly over the fields of destruction, pausing for broken families, the despair in their gazes tangible even through the comforting shield of the lens. Unable to keep his eyes on the screen, he stepped forward and leaned down close.

"Hey," he said softly, and Beth turned to Brendan with a startled intake of breath. "I was just leaving. I called out before, but..."

"I'm sorry," she replied with a quick smile. "I was making breakfast, and I guess I sat down and got caught up in the news." She turned back to the television. "It's just so sad, you know?"

Brendan nodded, and couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I just want to charge in there," she continued, "and make everything right again, like the Power Rangers did."

Brendan allowed himself a small smile. "I don't think it'd be that easy," he replied. "Not to mention," and he looked back to the screen, now showing a team of rescue workers digging through a destroyed building and lifting survivors free of the rubble, "not all heroes have superpowers."

Beth smiled and turned back to Brendan. "And when did you get so philosophical?"

Brendan grinned. "You pay enough attention in class, you pick up all kinds of cool stuff."

"And you're still only managing a B in my music lessons."

"No shop talk on the holidays, we had an agreement," he replied with a grin, and Beth raised her hands in defeat. "Anyway, I'll see you tonight."

"You know, you're awfully busy for someone on his winter holidays," Beth began, as Brendan stepped back. "What _are_ you kids all doing?"

Brendan froze in his tracks. "Uh," he began. _Come on, think of something_. "We're, uh, helping..." _C'mon, anything_._ Damn, the others make this look easy_. "...helping...Ernie, at the Youth Centre, organise a, uh, big winter holidays type party." _Yeah_._ **That** was convincing_.

But his mother seemed to buy the story, at least initially. "Hmm. I haven't heard or read anything..."

"It's a big secret, big surprise," Brendan added. _Might as well run with it_. "That's why the twelve of us are so busy, you know."

Beth nodded. "You know what? I'm proud of you, spending your holidays helping somebody," she said. "Just don't work too hard." Leaning forward, Beth reached up to hug her son, but Brendan felt the pressure on his ribs and pulled back involuntarily. 'Must be a growing thing,' she thought, and settled for a light kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks," Brendan replied, blushing slightly and heading for the door. "See you tonight." Picking up his backpack and stepping outside, he pulled the door shut behind him, raised his communicator and spoke.

"Hey Grey, you there?"

Ian's voice crackled through the communicator. "Right here. You on your way?" he asked.

"Yep," Brendan replied. "Listen, do you know if Ernie is planning anything over the two-week break?"

There was a pause. "No, I don't think so," Ian said. "Why?"

Brendan slapped his forehead. "Do you think we could convince him to?"

* * *

"Morning guys," called Trini, as Brendan and Ian arrived in the Command Centre in showers of aqua and silver light. Everyone else was already gathered under Zordon's plasma tube, going through our suspect lists and sharing some ideas.

"Good morning everybody," Brendan smiled, as he and Ian joined us.

Zordon smiled. "Rangers," he began, and everybody looked up to him, "now that you're all here, we can begin. Alpha and I have been monitoring various radio frequencies, specifically the police bands, since late last night. So far there have been two reports of people kidnapped by 'shadows'."

Zac nodded. "That's our psycho."

"He's started early," said Scott.

Jason looked around the room. "Because he's planning something big today," he said. "He's angry. I just have a feeling, whatever today's spectacle is, it's going to be massive."

"Which is why we have to stop him today," I said. "We can't risk another confrontation with civilians caught in the middle."

Jason nodded. "Exactly. Trini, Sarah, Tommy and Zac," and he glanced over to each of them in turn, "you guys need to keep looking into the original four victims, finding out everything you can. We can predict where Fury might show up, but until we have that link, we still don't know anything about him."

The four Rangers nodded, and Jason continued. "Billy, I need you to work on taking out the shadow advantage. Can you have something put together by dusk?"

"Affirmative," Billy replied. "But I will likely require some assistance."

Scott stepped forward. "Would you mind if I gave you a hand for the day?" he asked. "Everybody else seems to be busy, and I'd like to help."

The senior Blue Ranger nodded. "I'd welcome the company."

"It's settled then," said Jason. "As for the rest of us," and he looked to me, Kim, Ian, Teresa and Brendan, "we'll keep working down the suspect list. There's thirty-six people on the list. If we work in pairs, that should give us...uh..."

Trini smiled. "Twelve."

"Twelve people each," he continued. "It's eight o'clock now, and we've got about nine hours until sunset. Plenty of time to solve the mystery and save the world," he added with a small grin. "If all else fails, we'll meet back here at five. Let's break."

With this, everybody nodded, and reached for their communicators.

"Alpha and I will monitor the situation from here," boomed Zordon, as we all prepared to teleport. "Good luck Rangers, the city needs you."

* * *

It felt like the wrong kind of day to be searching for a crazed serial killer with the powers of a three-thousand-year-old demon. Arriving in Caloundra, Jason and I immediately saw that it was a perfect July morning. The sky was a cloudless, beautiful soft blue, the air was chilly but not cold, and the main street of the city was already bustling with life.

"You get the feeling we should be playing a game of cricket on the beach or having a picnic in a park somewhere?" I asked, as we headed downtown.

"It is a nice day for it," said Jason. "I can't believe we've been on holidays for a week already. Fury owes us. Who's first?"

I glanced down to the first name on our suspect list. "Anthony Mitchell, a forty-four-year-old lawyer from what it says here. He lives in one of those apartment blocks overlooking Bulcock Beach." I paused, and shook my head. "Twelve suspects in nine hours. You really think we can do this?"

"I know we can," nodded Jason. "We can't kung-fu our way through every problem, after all."

We came to the corner and stopped, the council building beside us, the police and fire stations opposite and Bulcock Beach further down on the left. Glancing around, I saw James Pratt, the civic libertarian on TV yesterday, standing with a small group of people behind a protest table in front of the council building. A banner with the slogan, 'Where will it end?' was hanging above them.

"They're still there," I muttered. "You'd have thought they would've gotten bored by now."

Jason looked around to see who I was talking about. "Don't worry about them."

"But do you think they're right?" I asked. "_Should_ we go to the police with what we've got? Let them do their job instead of doing it for them?"

Jason shook his head. "At the moment all we've got is a list of names and a Persian fire demon," he said. "We're gonna need more than that. Plus, sending the cops after a guy who can throw cars like tennis balls, probably not a good idea. Zordon was right, we're gonna have to take Fury down and then hand him in ourselves." I nodded, and he continued. "So where does this Mitchell guy live?"

"Westwind Apartments, the big blue building," I replied.

"Cool. We're helping our parents, lost a puppy, or just doing a school assignment?"

"Doesn't worry me. Just let me play bad cop this time."

* * *

Scott could barely contain his amazement, looking from side-to-side as he and Billy headed away from the Central Chamber and further back into the building. As near as he could tell, they were still on the same level. But until now he'd never ventured past the training room, and couldn't help but stare in wonder at the various doors they were passed, some emitting strange lights while others were locked shut.

"Man," he murmured, "ever since that first day in the Central Chamber, I've wanted to know what else was back here."

Billy glanced to the junior Blue Ranger and smiled. "I remember when the six of us first learnt of the immensity of the complex, my curiosity was almost overwhelming. Zordon eventually allowed Alpha to guide me through the building to familiar myself with the layout."

Scott turned to Billy. "So what did you see?" he asked. "I mean, how big is this place? If it's okay to ask."

Billy nodded, seeing an all-too-familiar curiosity in Scott, as the pair reached the end of the hallway and faced a wide and airy elevator. "Beneath the Central Chamber there are eleven more levels in the complex, all connected by walkways, hatches and this elevator," Billy replied. The two Rangers stepped forward and the elevator immediately began to descend, although there was no sensation of movement. "The lowest two levels house the generators that power the Command Centre - they occupy an entire floor - as well as storage and maintenance for the automated droids that maintain our zords and weapons. The two floors above that house the physical hardware that keeps the twelve of us connected to the Morphin' Grid. The power core also feeds into the Central Chamber above."

"Wow," said Scott. "I bet those floors are heavily guarded."

Billy nodded. "Zordon told me the physical barriers protecting those levels were designed to withstand Ultrazord blasts," he replied. "Above those floors is a level for security and detainment, should the Command Centre ever need to be used as a temporary jail. The level above that contains the vaults for storing items such as the Book of Hades and so forth, as well as a medium-sized laboratory. The next level is primarily storage - a trophy room, of sorts, containing keepsakes and artifacts from many quests and adventures. Above that, level five is the building's armoury, containing everything from crossbow bolts to working plasma cannons."

"The things you learn," said Scott. "And the top four levels?"

"Level four houses the databanks that store the Command Centre's computer archives," Billy continued, "but also features a small library. I wasn't shown level three, but Alpha explained that it's a disused storage area. Level two contains living and sleeping quarters, as well as a small kitchen and medbay, while level one has the training room, a smaller armoury and the Central Chamber."

Scott nodded. "Cool. So where are we working today?"

"The very lowest part of the complex," replied Billy. "Beneath even the generator and power core."

As if on cue, the elevator doors slid open, and the two Blue Rangers stepped out onto the metal floor. Scott looked up and around in dumbfounded astonishment - his first thought was that he was in an aircraft hanger, but that was immediately dismissed as he realised this place was several _thousand_ times larger. The walls and floor stretched on for kilometres - he could barely see to the other side - and the roof must have been at least thirty storeys above his head. The sheer size of the space was staggering, its immensity beyond description.

"The final stage of the tour," said Billy simply. "The Zord Holding Bay."

* * *

9:17.

Trini shook her head, looked away from her communicator and continued walking. Worrying about the time would only make it go faster. The possibility that Fury would return tonight was a certainty. That he would be planning something to make up for his two previous failures was a theory of Jason's - which meant it might as well have been a certainty. Time always seemed to be the team's greatest enemy.

The Yellow Ranger glanced through the information she'd collected as she walked. The folder of information carried everything she'd spent the last two days researching about Troy Simmons, and it had finally led her to the address of the woman Troy had killed during the bank robbery. The woman's name was Margaret Ellis, and she'd lived here with her family before Simmons had intervened in her fate. Maybe they still lived here, and wouldn't mind talking to a complete stranger about their mother and wife who'd been so crudely taken away from them.

Maybe _nothing_. Trini sighed. There was a greater good here, though, and as long as she kept reminding herself, hopefully the rest wouldn't be too bad.

Turning to a letterbox on the curb beside her, Trini stopped and looked up. 15 Allora Drive. She'd arrived.

The house was a two-storey red brick building, with a sloping tiled roof and concrete driveway. Curtains were drawn across all the windows, and what had once been a nice garden was slowly being conquered by weeds. The front door sat under a second-floor balcony, and Trini slid the folder into her backpack, climbed the steps and pushed the doorbell, her heart pounding in her chest.

A full minute passed that felt like forever, and still the door remained shut. Regretting her decision more with every second, she was about to leave when the door opened slightly and she caught sight of a dark figure beyond.

"I already told you, go away!" shouted a voice, young and male from the sounds of it. "There's nobody else here, and I don't want..." but the voice trailed off, and the door was suddenly pulled open.

Trini had guessed right - a teenager stood before her, looking about the same age, with scruffy blond hair, dark brown eyes and a smile that hadn't been used enough lately. He looked familiar, though.

"Trini?" the boy said, his brows raised. "Trini Kwan?"

Trini smiled nervously. She hadn't known what to expect, but this wasn't it. "I'm sorry, have we met before?"

"It's me, Brayden Ellis!" he replied. "I was in the seat behind you last year in chem class. We were in the same lab group for the first semester!"

Thinking back, Trini began to remember Brayden's face. He was right, they had shared grade nine chemistry. Hazy memories began drifting to the surface - Trini could see him in his white lab coat, could hear him saying good morning every lesson, could remember him roasting marshmallows in a bunsen burner one morning before class.

"Oh my gosh, Brayden! It's great to see you," she said with a smile. "I'm so sorry I didn't recognise you. We haven't shared any classes this year, so I hadn't..."

"That's all right," Brayden nodded. "It's a big high school and all. I'm sorry about before, I didn't recognise you either, and reporters have been showing up all week. This whole vigilante thing, you know. After they found the first four bodies, people have been digging up stuff all week. The police showed up yesterday to talk to Dad..." He stopped, his voice weary. "I'm sorry. How have you been? What brings you around?"

Trini lowered her gaze to the welcome mat. Lying to Brayden suddenly felt like the worst crime in the world. "I was walking past and...I saw a dog by the road, I thought he might have belonged to somebody who lived here," she said quickly.

Brayden shook his head. "No pets here, and I don't think any of the neighbours have any either," he replied, glancing past Trini to the street. "I can't see anything..."

"His owners must have found him then," she said, mentally sighing with relief. "Problem solved." She paused, looking into Brayden's eyes and feeling even worse than before. "I guess you've had a rough week. I do have to be somewhere this afternoon, but if you like, I could hang out here for a while, if you need somebody to talk to."

Brayden nodded. "Yeah, that'd be nice," he said, and held the door open. "I think I could use a friend. Come in, I'll put some tea on."

"Thanks," replied Trini, but as she followed Brayden into the house, the Yellow Ranger couldn't help noticing the time on a clock hanging beside the door.

9:37.

* * *

"Damn," swore Brendan, stepping back from the doorbell and scribbling a tiny 'not home' beside the corresponding address on his suspect list. "This is the third house straight. Are they seeing us coming?"

Kim nodded. "This is frustrating. It's so close to lunch, you'd think more people would be home."

"Do we have time to wait for them?" Brendan asked.

"No, we should keep going," Kim replied, and the two Rangers turned and walked back out to the sidewalk. "Next house is about two streets down."

Brendan shifted his backpack from his left shoulder to his right, and looked up to Kimberly. "You think Jason's right?" he asked. "That Fury is up to something today?"

"Totally," Kim nodded. "It makes sense, and Jason has a great track record."

Suddenly their communicators chimed, and they ducked into a nearby bus shelter. But as Kimberly raised her communicator, about six voices simultaneously crackled through the device.

"Rangers, forgive me," came Zordon's voice, "but I've opened the communicator frequency. There is something you need to hear."

"Zordon, what is it? What's wrong?" asked Teresa.

"Alpha and I have been monitoring the news feed since you left the Command Centre," the sage explained. "So far, Fury has kidnapped three more people, but we just heard a report that a seventy-five-year-old man has mysteriously disappeared from the 'Ocean Breeze' retirement home, a Mr Robert Pembleton. There were no witnesses. For all intents and purposes, he just vanished."

There was a second of silence across the band.

"But how do we know it was Fury?" asked Sarah.

"Yeah," agreed Zac. "Does he have like a criminal record or something?"

"No," replied Zordon. "But we thought it worth investigating. It's a good thing we did - Alpha found that before his retirement, the man was a judge working in the Caloundra Magistrates court."

"If Fury is reacting to a specific incident where the law failed him," I began, "Judge Pembleton could've been the original judge who let him down."

"Our thoughts exactly," said Zordon. "Rangers, this man is in extreme danger..."

"Yeah, if Fury doesn't beat him to death with his infinite patience," said Brendan, "then his heart might give out."

"All right, thanks for the heads-up," crackled Jason's voice. "Everybody keep working. We've only got a few hours before nightfall," and the communicators fell silent.

Brendan turned to Kimberly. "I almost can't believe this is happening."

Kim nodded. "I know what you mean, but Jason was right, we gotta keep moving. C'mon."

* * *

"Thank you sir," said Teresa, taking her clipboard and stepping back from the door. "We're sorry for taking your time."

Ian nodded. "We'll let you know if you've won the free holiday to Tahiti."

The man they'd just finished interviewing, a thirty-six-year-old Arthur Walton who had once been attacked and hospitalised by a still-unknown assailant, nodded and stepped back. "Happy to help you kids. Just call me if I win."

"Count on it," smiled Ian. "Have a good day," and the two Rangers stepped back off the porch as the man disappeared inside his home.

"Ian, we don't have a free holiday to give away," said Teresa curiously.

The Grey Ranger shrugged. "He doesn't know that."

Teresa smiled, and checked their list of suspects. "Well, at least that was the last one," she said, crossing Arthur Walton's name off the suspect list. "Ten people, all with alibis and in the clear. Two we couldn't find." The White Ranger paused, glancing to her watch. 3:30. "Where did the day go? We've only got a few hours left." Looking up, she saw the sun was indeed on a slow descent towards the western horizon.

"We've still got plenty of time," said Ian, "and don't let it get to you. I mean, we've cleared ten people, that's gotta count for something."

Teresa nodded. "You're right, of course, it's just that, I don't know. I have this feeling we've already solved the mystery, it's just a case of looking at it." She sighed. "I'm going to head back to the Command Centre, check in and cross these ten off the overall list."

"Good idea," nodded Ian. "I'll go back and try to catch these last two. Good luck."

"Thanks, you too," she replied. "Call if you need me."

"Count on it," Ian smiled, and the Grey Ranger turned and quickly walked away. Glancing around, Teresa spied an empty alleyway a few houses down the street, with high brick walls on either side. Jogging over, Teresa lightly tapped the top button on her communicator and immediately vanished from the scene, reappearing seconds later a thousand kilometres away.

"Teresa," boomed Zordon, as she materialised in the Command Centre. "You're early. I assume that you and Ian have eliminated all of your possible vigilantes?"

"For the most part," Teresa replied. "Alpha, ten of the people on our list had solid alibis for the last few nights. Can you take them out of our database?"

"Consider it done," Alpha replied, and taking the list, turned to one of the consoles and began typing.

Teresa looked back up to Zordon. "Ian's going back after the two we missed," she said. "He'll call if he needs us. I suppose everyone is still out?"

Zordon nodded. "Billy and your brother are currently working in one of the holding bays deep under the mountain, and the other Rangers are still following their own assignments. Trini has not checked in, but she said earlier she was going to interview somebody connected to Troy Simmons, so I assume she's still pursuing the lead."

"Thanks," she said. "Guess I should head back."

Alpha turned to her. "Is there anything else I can do for you before you leave?"

Teresa paused, then nodded. "As a matter of fact there is," she replied. "Can you put the original four victims and their profiles up on the viewing screen?"

"Not a problem," the robot replied, turning back to the console.

"Something troubling you Teresa?" asked Zordon.

The White Ranger shook her head. "Not really, I just have this feeling we're missing something, you know? That everything we need to solve this is already in front of us, it's just a matter of _seeing_ it." She sighed, and turned around to face the viewing screen. Four faces looked back.

"Simmons the bank-robber," she said aloud, "Lee the arsonist, Fitzgerald the murderer, and Harris the drug-pusher. Why did Fury pick you four?" She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "What did you all get away with to earn Fury's attention?"

But the faces could only stare back in silence.

A sudden flash of yellow light a metre away from Teresa, and Trini materialised in the Command Centre.

"Oh, hey Trini," said Teresa, glancing away from the viewing screen.

"Hi Teresa," the Yellow Ranger replied, before stepping forward and looking up to Zordon. "I'm sorry I haven't checked in," she said quickly. "I was building my profile for Troy Simmons, and I found the son of the woman he shot. I know him, he was in one of my classes last year, and he was so depressed, I couldn't leave him. I'm sorry, I didn't find out anything to help us with Fury."

"But you spent the day helping someone in need of a friend," replied Zordon. "I think we can forgive you for that." Trini smiled, and Zordon continued. "Now that you're here, perhaps Teresa could use some help...?"

But Teresa was still staring at the faces on the viewing screen, lost a universe or two away. There was something there, something Trini had just said.

"Sorry Zordon," she said, turning away from the viewing screen. "Trini, who did you spend the day talking to?"

"A guy called Brayden Ellis," Trini replied. "He's the son of the woman Troy Simmons killed during the robbery..."

With that one sentence, the haze lifted. Teresa could almost feel the lightbulb exploding above her head as the truth - the glaringly, painfully obvious truth - suddenly became clear.

"That's it," she said softly. "That's the link." She looked up to Trini and Zordon, speaking excitedly. "That's it, that's what links them, I can't believe we missed it!"

"Teresa," began Trini, "what do you mean?"

"It's **children**," said Teresa simply. "That was the link all along." She raised her hand and began counting. "The woman killed by Simmons has a teenage son, Sarah said that the family killed in Lee's hotel fire had a daughter who escaped, I overheard Kitty saying that she used to baby-sit for Fitzgerald's son, and of course somebody like Anthony Harris would be well-known among school kids." She glanced up to Zordon, suddenly inspired. "And didn't Ian say that one of the victims from the second night had been charged for beating her stepson? All the crimes that Fury is punishing for have in some way directly harmed children." She paused triumphantly. "And that's the link."

Trini nodded, comprehension dawning on her face. "You're right, of course! That has to be it!"

"Alpha," began Teresa, "can you go back through the suspect list and search for anybody who, I don't know, deals with children on a regular basis, maybe a teacher or a sports coach or something?"

"Ayeyiyi!" cried Alpha, barely two seconds later. "There's only one person left who fits that profile. Twenty-five-year-old Ryan Anderson. He's a child psychiatrist, and from what it says here, he's currently working as a guidance councillor at the high school."

"Mr Anderson?" asked Trini. "Alpha, why is he one of our suspects?"

"His grandfather was killed by a drunk driver when Ryan was nine," Alpha explained. "Laws about drink driving weren't as strict fifteen years ago, so the driver was let off on a technicality."

"That's him," nodded Teresa. "It's gotta be," and she raised her communicator and spoke. "Jason, you there?"

"Go ahead Teresa."

"I think we've got him," said Teresa. "Ryan Anderson, a child psychiatrist. He's currently the high school guidance councillor."

There was a pause. "Mr Anderson? Are you sure? He seems like such a well-adjusted kind of guy."

"I'll explain later. Trust me, he's our killer," said Teresa.

A few feet behind them by one of the consoles, Alpha suddenly burst into a fit of 'ayeyiyis', and both Trini and Teresa turned to him.

"Alpha, what is it?" asked Trini. "What's wrong?"

"I just checked Ryan Anderson's employment records," Alpha replied. "He was employed briefly as a police officer, but he was discharged for using excessive force when apprehending suspects. I just need a second to access the database... Rangers, look at this! The reason he was fired - the actual words in the file are 'like a form of vigilantism'."

There was a second of silence. "Jason, you get all that?" asked Teresa.

"Loud and clear," the Red Ranger replied. "You guys are right - that's our psychopath. Do you have an address listed for him?"

Teresa glanced down to the screen. "101 Kurtz Drive."

"That's only a few streets back from the Youth Centre. Zordon, can you open the communication line?"

"Already done," said Zordon, and across the Sunshine Coast, ten communicators chimed simultaneously.

"Okay," began Jason, "guys, we've got ourselves a vigilante. Ryan Anderson, the high school guidance councillor. I don't have all the details, but trust me, he's our badguy. Anybody who can, meet me at the Youth Centre in five minutes." The communication band fell silent for a second, before Jason continued. "Teresa, Trini and Alpha, good work. We're closing in."

* * *

Everybody except Billy and Scott (who were still busy in the Command Centre) and Trini (who'd volunteered to stay back and help) teleported into the Youth Centre, and we all met up beside the Juice Bar. It was only five minutes to Kurtz Drive, and as we walked Teresa filled us in on everything that had happened in the Command Centre. Turning the corner into Kurtz Drive, Ryan Anderson's house loomed before us.

Sarah glanced to the letterbox on the footpath. "101, this is it," she said.

Single-storey and brown-brick, the house looked distinctly out of place compared to the homes on either side. The curtains were all tightly closed, the garage beside the house was locked shut, and it had been a great many weeks since the garden had seen the hands of a gardener. Indeed, it looked as if nobody had actually lived there for months. Even the front yard was silent - there were no birds or lizards anywhere in the garden. It was like some kind of malevolent presence had manifested around the house, and everything that could was now avoiding it.

"I remember this place," said Kimberly slowly. "We came past here yesterday and nobody was home. I am so creeped out right now."

"What if the victims are inside?" asked Ian, as we slowly approached.

Zac shook his head. "Would he even keep them here?"

"I agree," said Teresa. "I don't think we'll find anybody in here. Fury, on the other hand..."

"If he's in here, we'll just try and talk him out of whatever he's planning," said Sarah, checking her watch. "It's 4:47, there's still time before sunset."

Brendan peered through the windows along the front of the house as we reached the front door. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm kinda hoping he isn't home."

Teresa nodded. "We can't risk a battle with the families in all those homes caught in the middle."

"You needn't worry Rangers," chimed Alpha's voice through our communicators. "You nine are the only people on the property."

Jason nodded. "Thanks," he said, and he turned to Tommy standing beside him. "Let's make an entrance. Everybody else, hang back for a second..."

The two sized up the heavy wooden door, and turning to face each other, they simultaneously slammed their heels into the door. It shook under the impact, raining a small shower of dust, and just one more double kick was enough to bring the door down, taking most of the door frame with it and smashing a small wooden table to splinters as it hit the floor.

"Whoa," said Zac, as the two turned back to face us. "Demolition plus."

Jason smiled. "We do our best," he said. "Okay, check all the rooms. Either there's something in here that proves Ryan is guilty, or we owe somebody a new front door." He paused. "And turn on every light you find."

Wary of any traps, the group entered the building and split up. I headed down the hallway, finding a room towards the back of the house that looked to be a study and hitting the light switch on the wall as I entered. A desk and computer sat in the corner on my right, with a bookcase on my left and several chairs in the centre of the room. At the far side of the room was a shelf displaying several framed pictures and photos, but it was the large noticeboard hanging above that caught my attention. Crossing the room, I soon saw why.

Newspaper clippings - dozens of them, _hundreds_ of them - were pinned to the noticeboard. There were stories about brutal crimes and prisoners walking free, pictures of grieving families and crying children, statistics and profiles all relating to the law. In the very centre was an ancient-looking cutting, yellowed and torn. Beside the text was a picture of a young boy. The photographer had captured tears streaming down the boy's face, but his eyes looked empty, like there was nothing behind them. This was the face of a boy who'd lost everything to a world that simply hadn't cared.

I glanced to the story accompanying the photo, but only made it through the first paragraph.

_Noted figure in the community James Anderson was killed yesterday by a drunk driver, while only yards away, his grandchildren watched on helplessly_.

_Holy_...

"Guys, get in here, quick!" I cried.

Jason was first through the door, the rest of the team right behind him. "What is it?" he asked.

"I'd say this counts as evidence," I said, indicating the noticeboard, and there was a second of silence as the Rangers all glanced over the newspaper stories.

Teresa scanned the centre article, and the pieces finally fell into place. "And there's where Fury was born," she said. "Watching as his grandfather was killed. Judge Pembleton failed him, so he spent his life preparing for the day he could take his revenge."

Jason nodded. "But he was too brutal for the police force, so they fired him. The system failed him twice."

"Hey, check this out," said Brendan, pointing to an article pinned at the top right-hand corner of the noticeboard. We all glanced over the text - it was a simple obituary, barely three sentences long, about a retired man named Daniel Everett who'd died of heart failure about six months ago.

"Look at the man's name," said Sarah, glancing back at the centre article. "Daniel Everett, the driver who killed Ryan's grandfather, fifteen years ago."

"That's most likely what set Ryan off," I nodded. "He was robbed of the opportunity to take revenge, so he became Fury."

"You're right," said Jason, looking back at the centre article. "The street where James Anderson was killed was just a vacant lot fifteen years ago." He turned back to us. "But they eventually built the magistrate's court there. That's where Fury is going to be tonight. The ultimate message he could deliver - destroying the courthouse itself."

"Got us another clue," called Zac, over by the desk. "There's a property deed here for a disused warehouse behind the industrial district." He turned to Brendan. "Looks like you were right, bro."

"That's where the victims will be," nodded Tommy. "That's where he'd keep them."

Jason nodded. "Let's go check it out. From this point on, we're in full Ranger mode. Brendan," and he turned to the Aqua Ranger, "I need you to find Ian's dad, and tell him everything."

"You got it Jason," Brendan replied.

"Okay then Rangers," he said, and we all reached for our back pockets. "It's morphin' time!"

"Iguanodon!"

"Dilophosaurus!"

"Rhamphorynchus!"

"Velociraptor!"

"Stegosaurus!"

"Dragonzord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

* * *

The warehouse sat amidst the scrub a fair distance behind the city's major industrial district, accessible only by a narrow dirt road. Like Anderson's house, the huge rectangular building was sealed tight, but now we were suited up, stealth was no longer an issue. Arriving on the scene, Jason immediately summoned the megablaster and blasted a hole in the building large enough to drive a truck through.

Charging through the cloud of dust and smoke, Jason held the megablaster at arm's length, swinging it in a wide arc as the rest of us spread out on either side of him. But aside from several small rooms in the far corner of the building, the warehouse was empty.

"I guess nobody's home," I said, my voice echoing through the building.

"Which means he's already preparing for tonight," said Jason.

Kimberly glanced up to the ceiling. All the fluorescent lights hanging from the roof appeared to have been violently destroyed. "This is definitely where Fury kept his victims during the day."

Sarah jogged over to the cells in the corner, peering through the doors into each. "They're all empty," she called.

"We _did_ miss him," said Ian. "What now?"

"We get out of here, first thing," I replied. "This place is giving me the creeps."

Jason nodded. "We need to be ready for tonight," he said, and everybody walked back out into the late afternoon sunshine. "We know _who_ Fury is, all we have to do now is stop him. Billy," and Jason raised his communicator, "are they mobile?"

"Affirmative," came Billy's reply. "Scott, Trini and I are almost ready. I have some reservations though, Jason. Is it entirely probable this strategy will succeed? We may be able to contain Fury, but we still might not be able to stop him."

Jason nodded, realising that Billy was right. They needed a back-up plan, just in case. Thinking back to Ryan Anderson's house, he pictured the wall of clippings and the framed photos underneath. "Don't worry, I've got it covered," he replied, and turned to the Green Ranger beside him. "Tommy, when we get back to the Command Centre, could you do me a favour? I need you to look a couple of people up for me..."

But as the eight Rangers left, none of us noticed a pair of fiery eyes burning in the darkness, watching us intently for a few minutes before winking out of existence.


	12. Interlude 6

**Interlude Six**

_Extract from Robert Pembleton's memoirs, 'A Life in Court', pp 127-128._

...although the question I get asked the most is whether or not I can remember all the faces who've at some stage had to stand before me. Given the impact of the decisions I made, I wish my reply was different, but the truthful answer is that no, I can't.

Don't get me wrong. I can still recall the details of a corruption case involving several local politicians I ruled on back in the seventies. I can vividly remember the day a defendant pledged his innocence lest God strike him down, before immediately dropping dead of a heart attack, and I can still recall the occasion when a police prosecutor arrived for work without any pants. But I first began as a lowly barrister when I was 22, and after sixty years, everything has more of less faded into a blur.

Having said that, there is one moment I'll be able to recall until my final breath. I forget the circumstances of this particular case, but I was forced to let a defendant walk with a suspended sentence. As I made the ruling and glanced around the courtroom, I noticed a boy in the public gallery, sitting beside his family. He could not have been older than ten or eleven, but the look of anger in his brown eyes suggested lifetimes longer. His parents sobbed and held each other in response to the judgment I'd just delivered, but he just sat there, staring right through me with a gaze so intense it chilled me. I could not believe someone so young could hold so much pain inside.

I never learned the boy's name, and I certainly would've remembered had I seen his face again, but I never did. I only hope he forgave me whatever injustice I'd committed, and somewhere within himself, found peace.


	13. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

It had almost been easy thus far, as if fortune itself was smiling upon him. The heroes would try to stop him, no doubt, standing in his way for their own blind reasons. But he would not - he _could_ not - be defeated, and when the time came, they would either bow before him or be crushed underneath. Until then, his mission was his only focus. By the rise of the moon tonight, they would all know his power.

He'd waited until the approach of dusk, and had found the courthouse almost deserted. The building was old, nowhere near as old as himself, but old enough, with only three entrances and windows barred with curling steel against intruders. After locking the vermin inside and ensuring they could not leave, he'd set about making escape impossible. The side door was blocked easily enough, by an industrial rubbish bin that he picked up and dropped upside down before the door. The street behind the courthouse was empty, allowing him to shove a parked car towards the building's rear entrance and effectively bottle it shut.

Satisfied with his work, he glanced up to the velvet sky. The moon had risen, and the first stars were shining. He could feel the shadows in his blood. Time now belonged to him.

Laughing to himself, he stepped back into the shadows and reemerged at the front of the building, walking slowly and deliberately down towards the street. The citizens walking past the courthouse immediately noticed him - they couldn't have missed the six-foot armour-clad warrior if they tried - and the street suddenly grew quiet. Some immediately turned and fled the scene, while many simply froze in terror, unable to move.

Good. Let them fear. Let the world shake with his every step.

A parked delivery truck stood by the curb, and gripping the side of the vehicle, he picked it up. His supercharged muscles screamed in protest - the truck was heavy even for him. With all his strength, he launched the vehicle into the air. The truck landed with an almighty crash, rolling onto its side and shaking the street, windows shattering and front cab buckling. Stepping away from the road, Fury flipped the truck along the ground, rolling it towards the front of the building. Finally, the truck crashed into place, shattering the courthouse's windows, collapsing the entrance and sealing the building shut.

Now for the final touch. Stepping back into the shadows, Fury vanished.

"Where'd he go?" I asked, looking down over the balcony of the two-storey shopping arcade across the street from the courthouse.

"He's not finished," replied Teresa.

"Exactly," Jason agreed. "The spectacle isn't big enough, not yet..."

As if on cue Fury returned, appearing out of the shadows beside the building and striding towards the large statue of Justice that stood in front of the courthouse, holding something in his right hand. It was Judge Pembleton.

Oblivious to the crowd of frightened people around him, Fury stopped by the statue and slammed Robert Pembleton against the granite. Taking a length of chain from his belt, he secured the retired judge in place, burning the links closed with his bare hands.

"Please..." muttered the man, his voice nothing more than a whisper, "don't do this. I have a family...grandchildren...I've never wronged you, please..."

Fury laughed, a stinging sound that immediately silenced the man. "You're actually begging me?" he snarled. "Would you fall upon your hands and knees if you thought that would work? I remember a time many years past, where I begged you to overturn an injustice." Fury paused for effect, his eyes flashing with a predatory gleam. "Yet you did nothing while I cried. So tell me, Judge, how does it feel?"

He struck the man's face, a light slap delivered to an errant child, and turned back to the steadily-growing crowd of onlookers, none of them wishing to be there yet all of them unable to leave.

"Look at you, cowering in fear before me," he began, his voice echoing across the street. "But it is not me you need to fear! I am here only to punish the wicked and destroy the monsters who wish you harm. Let the unjust and the sinners, the murderers and thieves, let them tremble before me. From now on, there will be no place for them to run, no escape from my wrath."

He paused dramatically, and continued. "And yet nothing deserves fury more than the blasphemy that stands behind me," he growled, throwing his arm back towards the courthouse. Faint cries for help could be heard from within. "The law is a mockery to those trying to obey it, protecting the wicked while persecuting the innocent. What a pathetic figure, that of Justice, for not only is she blind, but deaf, dumb, and utterly helpless!"

He raised his arms in victory. "And those who enforce this system are just as guilty as those who willfully ignore it," and he turned back to the judge. "So tonight, this house of hypocrisy will burn at my hand, and the people will see the strength of _my_ justice and will know the power of Fury!"

Jason shook his head. "This has gone on long enough," he muttered, and climbing to his feet, dived over the balcony, somersaulting down over the heads of the crowd and landing lightly on the street below. Teresa and I followed his lead, touching down on either side of the Red Ranger. Seeing the three of us arrive, the crowd immediately stepped back.

"Enough," said Jason. "Nobody else will die at your hands, Fury."

Fury glared at the three of us, his eyes burning bright with hatred. "I warned you last night Rangers - your interference will not be tolerated."

"No," replied Teresa. "We've come to save people's lives. It's what we do."

"Yeah," I said. "Fury, we understand your pain, but this is..."

"Understand?" he boomed. "I'd almost hoped you would. Killing monsters, that's all I'm guilty of doing."

"That's not what this is about," said Jason. "Ryan."

Fury froze in place. "So," he muttered. "You figured it out?"

Teresa nodded. "You lost your grandfather, someone you loved, and the law failed to avenge him. But Ryan, this isn't the way..."

"Fools," Fury sneered, dismissing Teresa with a wave of his hand. "You speak of pain and humanity, but you're no better than the monsters you destroy. You have such power at your command, yet the world continues to turn as it has since creation. An evil, tainted place. I'm using power the way it was meant to be used."

I raised my Power Sword. "Then you leave us with no choice."

Fury threw his head back and laughed, a short sharp bark. "Really?" he asked. "This is the time of shadows, Rangers. You're in my realm now."

Jason shook his head. "Not this time," he replied. "Guys, **now**!"

The other eight Rangers immediately sprang from their hiding places on top of the buildings surrounding the courthouse, each one lifting a large rectangular panel into place beside them. As one, the Rangers reached down and activated the devices, and the entire street was suddenly lit from all directions as each of the eight floodlights flashed to life. I quickly shielded my eyes from the artificial midday - it was as if the sun was directly above the street, shining down from all sides.

Fury spun around in confusion, as the Rangers all leaped across the rooftops and down to the street to join Teresa, Jason and I.

"Nice work," I said.

Billy nodded. "Thanks," he said. "We had to utilise the lamps from every zord, and reroute their power supplies one-by-one, but we managed."

Confusion rapidly becoming white-hot anger, Fury glanced from one floodlamp to the next. There was even one on top of the courthouse itself. Realising our plan, he raised his arms and launched several fireballs at the nearest floodlights. The blasts of flame whistled through the air, slammed into the invisible forcefields protecting the lights and dissipated into harmless puffs of smoke.

Scott grinned beneath his visor. "My idea," he said.

Jason took a step forward. "You've got nowhere left to run," he called.

"So either give up now," said Ian.

Trini's daggers formed in her hands. "Or we do it the hard way."

Shaking with rage, Fury spun back around to face us. "Fury will not be stopped by the likes if you!" he cried, and punching the air, immediately sent four fireballs spiraling towards Jason and I.

Standing our ground, Jason and I raised our swords and batted away the first two fireballs, both blasts smashing harmlessly into the ground. I deflected the third blast straight up into the sky, while Jason stepped forward and calmly raised his fist, the blast slamming into the back of his hand and dissipating.

"Try again," I said.

Fury glared at us in disbelief, and hesitating a second longer, charged towards the eleven of us with a roar.

"Ian, Tommy," began Jason, "empty the courthouse, leave Fury to us." The Green and Grey Rangers nodded and dashed away. "Okay guys, teamwork and skill. Let's take this guy!"

"Right!"

Instantly summoning her Power Bow, Kimberly shot a volley of arrows at the approaching warrior, the entire area erupting in sparks and fire. Roaring as he charged through the smoke cloud, Fury lashed out blindly at anyone within range, sweeping away Sarah and Zac before turning to face Trini and Billy. But the two Rangers were ready, leaping forward before Fury had the chance to attack, Trini slashing with her daggers and Billy aiming high with his lance. Fury blocked both daggers with one arm and caught Billy's lance with the other. But with Fury's attention diverted, Scott raced forward and leaped into the air, landing several rapid kicks to Fury's chest and head before somersaulting back to safety. Stumbling backwards, Fury grunted and launched twin blasts of flame that forced Billy and Trini to retreat.

Sarah and Zac charged through the smoke cloud as Fury regained his footing, Zac swinging his axe while Sarah attacking with her mace. Fury dodged the mace and struck Sarah back while stepping around Zac's Power Axe and lashing out at the Black Ranger. Zac dived over the punch and rolled to his feet as Fury turned after him and kept swinging. The Black Ranger blocked one punch, dodged another and leaped back and over a third, spinning his axe in midair, dropping to the ground and opening fire. Kim took advantage, dropping down beside Zac and peppering Fury with arrows. The blasts froze the warrior, and Sarah charged back towards him, striking away a punch, spinning on the spot and aiming her mace squarely for Fury's jaw.

Fury's head snapped sideways, but he recovered quickly and spun back around, only to face Jason and I standing side-by-side with our blades raised.

"Fury," I began.

"This ends now," finished Jason.

We struck out in unison, slashing high then swinging low. Fury ducked back out of range and we followed after him, our blades slicing through the air. I slashed forward with a wide horizontal stroke, but even as Fury batted the blade away, Jason stepped forward and cleaved his sword through the warrior's chest armour. Fury roared and lashed out - Jason spun under a blow and landed a low kick, while I blocked Fury's fist and smashed the hilt of my sword into his stomach. Fury grunted, and before he could recover, Jason leaped up and kicked forward, slamming his boot into the stunned vigilante's jaw and sending him crashing.

Recovering from the blow, Fury roared and began firing at anything in sight, just as I charged forward to continue the attack. A bright fireball slammed into my chest - I barely felt the heat but it still sent me flying back through the air and crashing to the ground amid the crowd.

I shook my head, slowly picking myself up as the battle continued. At least I hadn't landed on anybody, although that probably would've been softer.

"Abusing your power again?" came a voice.

I glanced over my shoulder - a man was standing over me, fairly short and dressed in obnoxiously bright clothes. I recognised him instantly, it was James Pratt, the libertarian who'd been protesting outside the council building all week. Just from the look on his face, I knew he was about to launch into a speech I didn't have time to hear.

"He's just airing his opposition to a flawed legal system," Pratt began tersely, "that only protects..."

I only meant to shut him up with a light backhand, but I'd forgotten about my Ranger-strength and he went flying, disappearing into the crowd behind me. Raising my sword, I charged back towards the battle, and somewhere in the distance, I could hear sirens - Brendan was arriving with the police and paramedics.

To everybody watching, the battle was turning. Fury's fireblasts, used increasingly out of desperation, were growing steadily weaker, and his punches were lacking more and more force. Trini and Sarah were attacking as I returned - they landed twin punches on Fury's stomach before Trini slashed both daggers across his chest while Sarah landed a blow with her mace. Dazed from the assault, Fury stumbled backwards shaking his head, only to see the Grey and Green Rangers drop down before him.

"Forget about us?" asked Ian. Glancing back, I saw the crowd tending to Judge Pembleton and the other people Fury had trapped inside the courthouse.

Fury lunged at the two Rangers, swinging wildly, but they dived around him, rolled to their feet and attacked from both sides with simultaneous spinning kicks. Tommy spun the warrior around to face him with a shoulder strike, before sending him reeling with a chest-high kick. Ian quickly followed after the warrior and landed a storm of rapid blows to Fury's chest and head. Dazed from the assault, Fury's ears were still ringing when Tommy leaped past his junior counterpart and attacked again, slamming his fist into Fury's chest and spinning around in one smooth motion to deliver a powerful left backhand. Fury staggered back, blasting desperately at the road beneath the two Rangers and forcing them to retreat.

The warrior glanced around for a chance to escape, for a shadow to hide in, for _anything_, but turned to see a lone figure emerge from the smoke cloud - the White Ranger, her Power Whip at her side.

"Enough," Teresa said simply.

Out of options, Fury charged, thundering towards the White Ranger. Teresa stood her ground, and cracked the trailing end of her whip at Fury's face-plate to briefly blind him before coiling the whip around his ankles, bringing him face-first to the ground and pulling the whip free. Using the opportunity to roll back to his feet, Fury leaped forward, raising his arm to strike. But as he fell towards her, Teresa held the whip taut, blocked his arm and struck Fury back with a chop to his side followed by a palm strike to his chest and several high kicks delivered in rapid succession. Stumbling backwards, out of breath, Fury eventually found his footing, and raising his arm weakly to launch another fireblast, he lurched back towards the White Ranger - but once in range, a single spinning roundhouse kick was enough to send the vigilante crashing to the ground where he moved no further.

Silence fell as Teresa turned to the warrior and Fury rolled onto his back. He moved weakly to get up, but the White Ranger slammed her foot against his chest, forcing him back down. Approaching the two of them, the rest of us formed a circle around Teresa and the defeated vigilante.

Ignoring the rest of us, Fury glared up at Teresa. "Why?" he asked, his voice hoarse. "Why did you stop me? You alone should have understood what I was trying to do..."

"Why!" repeated Teresa. "You were killing people. You would've murdered innocent people tonight!"

Fury shook his head. "No. The men and women I chose deserved my wrath. You cannot deny their evil..."

"And what about those who didn't?" Teresa asked. "The two janitors we rescued from the courthouse, or the secretary whose only crime was staying late to finish some work for her boss? What about _them_?" Fury didn't answer, maintaining his silent gaze, and Teresa continued. "And what if the fire had spread? There's a hospital down the street, did they deserve to die as well? How many would it have taken, Ryan, before you could stop justifying this to yourself? Well? **How many?**"

Fury shook his head, his voice rising. "No, you're trying to deceive me, to tempt me from my mission." He lowered his arms, attempting to lift himself off the ground. "I will not be..."

Teresa forced him back to the gravel with her foot. "Stay down," she said, making it very clear that he would not be disobeying her again. "What about Judge Pembleton? You signed his death warrant for doing nothing but his job, a decade and a half ago."

"He failed me!" Fury cried.

"And did you ever stop to consider the countless thousands of people who went through his court for fifty years that he _did_ help?" Fury froze, and lowered his head. "And what about me? I disagree with you, are you going to try and kill me, too? I'm eleven years old, Fury, what kind of protector are you?"

Fury didn't answer, and glanced over to where several ambulance officers were tending to the retired judge. It was several seconds before he spoke again. "No," he said, shaking his head. "We are better than them, White Ranger. Stronger, faster, more powerful, capable of anything. We are beyond their stupid, pathetic laws. You cannot deny this."

"Which is exactly the reason why we need to follow them," Teresa replied, her voice softening. "This power we have, yes, it makes us stronger - but it also brings us closer to becoming what we fight against." The White Ranger paused, letting her words sinking in. "Monsters. I know why you sought that power, Ryan, but although we walk the very fine line between intervention and domination, we do not cross it. We use our power when we need to, when we absolutely must. But becoming a superhuman judge, jury and executioner? No." The word was like a slap in the face, and Fury visibly recoiled. "Down that road we become tyrants, forcing people to our will. For better or for worse, people have to make their own world. Not have one forced onto them."

Fury remained silent, and Teresa continued, her voice calmer.

"Which is why we use our powers to protect. Ordinary people are capable of hurting each other on their own, as I'm sure you know, and using our gifts for those ends achieves nothing. But using them to help, _that's_ what makes us special. It's why we were given those powers in the first place. Not to reflect the world, but show it the way it could be."

The vigilante turned away from her, and began muttering to himself. His voice was soft and quiet, completely removed from Fury's usual bellowing. Teresa couldn't hear what he was saying, but somewhere within, somewhere very deep down, she knew she'd finally reached Ryan Anderson.

"I just wanted to help," he began, turning back to her, the fire in the vigilante's eyes dying. "To protect children from monsters..."

"And I believe you Ryan," Teresa replied. She took a careful step back, and Fury made no move to get up. "What happened to you was a horrible injustice, and should never happen to anybody. The law isn't perfect and never will be. But your way, Ryan, with fire and death - this is wrong. You need to know that, you need to understand that." Teresa paused. "And deep down somewhere, I know that you do."

The vigilante who until five minutes ago had been Fury nodded slowly, his body shaking. A sudden sharp intake of breath confirmed Teresa's suspicions - he was crying.

Standing behind them, I turned to Jason in awe. Teresa had done it.

"Okay Ryan," she began, "if you can hear me, I need you to do one final thing. The demon you summoned, Aesma Daeva - it may have granted you power, but it's still a demon. Whatever it is you did to bind yourself to this thing, you need to reverse it, okay? That demon cares as much for you as it does for the criminals you murdered, and you need to get it as far away from you as possible. Is there something I can do, or...?"

Slowly, Fury shook his head. Reaching down to one of the rubies in his belt, he pulled the jewel free of its holder, and with the last of his strength smashed it against the road, the stone instantly shattering into thousands of tiny shards.

Almost immediately, Fury's cloak and armour vanished in a puff of foul-smelling smoke, and Ryan Anderson slumped to the ground before us, broken and defeated. His blonde hair was disheveled and tangled, and tears were streaming from large brown eyes. Unable to face anybody, he hid his head in his hands and continued sobbing pitifully.

Teresa glanced back to Jason and I, and we nodded. Looking back down to Ryan, she stepped forward and knelt down beside him.

"Ryan..." she began, but was interrupted by a flash of flame and a shower of sparks several metres away above the street. Everybody turned to look as the air began to ripple, and something like steadily-thickening smoke started taking shape in the centre of the road.

Scott immediately raised his communicator. "Zordon," he began, "what's going on? What is that?"

"My best guess," boomed Zordon's voice, "is that when Ryan smashed the ruby, he released the demon and forced Aesma Daeva to take on physical form. And judging from previous experience with vengeance demons, Aesma Daeva probably isn't particularly happy about that."

Anticipating our next move, Tommy spoke next. "What do you think guys? Can it be killed?"

"If it manifests physically in this universe, it can theoretically be killed," replied Billy. "Although the difficulty of such a task is another matter entirely."

But even as Billy spoke, the air ceased to ripple, and in a flash of flame, Aesma Daeva had materialised before us.

The demon emerging from the cloud of smoke had a human-shaped blood-red body, covered in a mix of skin and scales and with one more noticeable difference - six arms protruded from Aesma Daeva's shoulders, three on either side. Its hands and feet ended in black claws, and every superheated step caused the ground to protest with a puff of smoke. The demon was adorned with wrist and ankle gauntlets, a belt of chain links around its stomach and two curved horns on its chest and back.

The demon's face was vaguely-reptilian, with smoking red eyes above a snout filled with jagged white teeth. Aesma Daeva's ears sat flat against his skull, and horns protruded above his head. The demon was truly terrifying - the crowd behind us whimpered, several people screaming and a few passing out on the spot. I can't say I blame them. We all immediately raised our weapons and stood our ground.

Glancing around the street, the demon's gaze fell upon Teresa and Ryan, and muttering dark curses in an ancient tongue, he turned towards the former vigilante. It took us all a second to remember the universal language translators attached to our belts, but we immediately reached down and activated them.

"...rend you limb from bloodied limb," the demon was saying, slowly advancing on Ryan, "you weak and pathetic child of a dead race..."

"Guys," said Teresa, looking up to Jason and I. "Handle it."

"Gladly," I said, tightening the grip on my sword. "It's about time we got to pound something and not feel guilty about it."

Jason nodded. "Amen to that," and the ten Rangers all moved to protect Teresa and Ryan. Seeing us put ourselves between the demon and his former human host, Aesma Daeva paused and roared defiantly.

"Ten mortals or thousands, you challenge me and die!" he cried, and we raised our weapons and raced forward to take Aesma Daeva at his word.

Zac and Tommy reached the demon first, the Black Ranger swinging his axe while the Green Ranger slashing with his Dragon Dagger. Raising an arm, Aesma Daeva caught Zac's wrist and threw him away with a double punch while swatting Tommy aside with his other three hands. Jason and I leaped forward to take up the attack, swinging our blades in unison - the demon raised both his highest fists, blocking the two weapons before attacking with his lower four hands. I ducked under a high swipe, batting away one fist with my blade while kicking away another, while beside me Jason rolled under one arm, dodged two more fists and sliced diagonally  
with his sword. It was impossible trying to fight Aesma Daeva and keep track of all six arms at once - Jason and I were moving as fast as we could, but the demon quickly outfought us and struck us both away.

Even as we fell, Billy swung high with his lance while Scott aimed his staff for the demon's chest - Aesma Daeva blocked Billy's lance, caught the staff, batted both weapons aside and easily began trading blows with both Rangers at once, forcing them on the defensive, blocking and dodging attacks from all sides. Behind them, Trini leaped forward, somersaulting over both her team-mates on a direct course for Aesma Daeva. But the demon stepped to the side, smashed Trini out of the air, caught a low kick and launched Scott into Billy, downing them both.

"Sons and daughters of fools!" the demon cried, as the Rangers climbed to their feet and warily kept their distance. "I have lived since the beginning of time, and you attack me with hands and feet?"

"Well then," came a voice, and Aesma Daeva spun around to find Ian holding his twin Power Blasters at arm's length, centimetres away from the demon's scaly face. "Welcome to the twentieth century, _jerk_," and he began firing.

The demon's head exploded in sparks and fire as the blasts slammed him backwards to the ground. Enraged at our sheer defiance, Aesma Daeva rolled to his feet, threw his arms wide and roared ferociously. Using the opportunity to catch the demon off-guard, Sarah raised her mace and charged towards him, smashing away one of his right fists and blocking the other two. The demon raised his three left fists, but having learnt from before, Scott attacked again, blocking all three fists with his staff and landing a solid kick to the demon's gut. Aesma Daeva grunted - feeling fear for the first time in centuries - and batting the staff away, struck out at the Blue Ranger. Trini dashed forward, slashing all three hands with her daggers, while beside her, Tommy leaped to Sarah's aid, using the Dragon Dagger to help the Purple Ranger fend off the demon's three right fists, before a double high kick from the Blue and Purple Rangers sent their opponent reeling.

Watching the fight, Teresa looked back down to Ryan, who was staring in wide-eyed horror at the monster gunning for him.

"And now do you see what you unleashed?" she asked. "Why we wanted to stop you? There are forces in this world that are far more dangerous than any normal human." Ryan nodded dumbly, and Teresa turned back to the fight.

Aesma Daeva staggered backwards but regained his footing, only to find himself under fire from Ian and Zac as they blasted him with their Power Weapons. His torso erupting in smoke and flames, the demon lurched towards them raising all three right hands, but Ian raised his blasters and the demon's fists were lost in a blaze of fire. Aesma Daeva froze, howling in pain, and Zac dived forward, rolled to his feet and swung his axe, cleaving right through the demon's lowest right hand. Aesma Daeva roared and slashed all three left fists towards the Black Ranger, only to scream in pain as pink arrows thudded into each of his palms. Ian and Zac somersaulted back to join Kimberly, and the three raised their weapons and fired again, the entire street erupting in sparks and fire.

Aesma Daeva staggered out of the cloud, shaking what was left of his hands with rage.

"I have lived for centuries!" he cried, his eyes burning bright with hatred, "and I have never been defeated by mortals!"

"Then clearly you've never been defeated by us before," I said.

Standing beside me, Jason nodded. "Six arms, too, and we didn't even need the Megazord," he said. "Combined swords?"

"Thought you'd never ask," I replied.

Charging our swords with glowing light, Jason and I raised them high into the air above us. The blades met, and like nothing so much as thunder, a massive energy blast exploded forth from the twin blades, scorching the air above the road and slamming into the demon. The effects of the blast were instant and catastrophic - with a final defeated scream, Aesma Daeva was ripped apart in a massive explosion that lit up the street and sent a plume of smoke rocketing skywards.

Silence fell as Jason and I lowered our blades. Behind us, we could suddenly hear the crowd of onlookers parting, and everybody turned to see the Aqua Ranger leading a troop of police officers, Sergeant Thompson at the front, towards the White Ranger and the figure of Ryan Anderson.

Ryan looked up as the police approached, and taking Teresa's hand, slowly climbed to his feet. Sergeant Thompson stopped a few metres away from Ryan, and the officers behind him all held their hands over the firearms at their sides.

"It's okay," Ryan stuttered, stepping away from Teresa and offering both wrists to the Sergeant. "Fury's gone now."

Thompson nodded, then reached for his handcuffs and proceeded to arrest Ryan Anderson. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief. The vigilante had been apprehended.

I turned to Jason but saw him standing a few metres away with a group of people in the crowd. Two of them were significantly older than the rest, while there were three about the same age as Ryan and two teenage boys. They all bore more than a passing resemblance to the former vigilante.

"Thank you for coming," said Jason, speaking to the eldest man and woman in the group. "I'm sorry to involve you, but you would've stood a greater chance of stopping him if we'd fallen."

The man shook his head. "No, thank you Red Ranger," he began, "for everything you did. I only wish you could've met him under different circumstances."

Jason nodded, shook the man's hand, and walked back over to where I was standing.

"Who were they?" I asked.

"Plan B," Jason replied, before turning and heading towards the other Rangers. And it was then that I realised I was looking at Ryan Anderson's family.


	14. Interlude 7

Author's notes -- sorry about the lack of updates, I had to go away for the week. Only one chapter left, though, so I figured it'd be all good. Koalugirl -- Thanks for your reviews. You're absolutely right -- Peter pegged this back in chapter five, this story was all about Teresa and her driving the team forward. As she said, that rescue mission showed her up close and personal the value of every single human life, even a life like Ryan Anderson's, and I strongly agree with her in everything she says to Ryan at the end, there. That's superheroes to me, right there, and I wanted to do them justice. And the fact that Teresa soloed a guy who kicked the butts of the entire Junior team doesn't hurt :). Anyway, enjoy...

**Interlude Seven**

_Editorial in the 'Suncoast Daily'_

I don't think anyone can accuse me of exaggeration when I say that this city is not the same Caloundra we all grew up with, and most certainly never will be again. For reasons known only to the Universe at large, Caloundra was given its own team of superhuman defenders, to fight against fearsome threats from the far reaches of space and time. But I don't think we've ever seen anything as frightening as the events of the last few days. And no, I'm not referring to the superpowered serial killer Fury, but the sheer controversy created when the Power Rangers stepped in to aid the police in capturing the vigilante.

While the Rangers were risking their lives, the city was being told that they were up to no good, overstepping their duties and becoming a vigilante force themselves. The Rangers are only children, after all, and this means they cannot be trusted to see the world and all its complexities as mature adults would. Indeed, what is the point of entrusting the safety of the world to a group of people who only see that world through the immature ideals of good and evil? Right and wrong? Morals, we are told, only exist in shades of grey, so why should we support people who are fighting for something that does not even exist?

I feel a great deal of pity for anybody trying to tell me that 'good' is an abstract concept with no basis in reality.

Take away the costumes and invincible battle machines, and you're left with twelve young people simply trying to do the right thing. Putting themselves between us and the monsters who wish us harm, Fury being a prime example. And those who want tangible proof of that need only look into the eyes of the man or woman who has one more day on this Earth because of the Rangers' intervention. One more day to be with the people they love, one more day to hold their children or help a stranger, to worship God or pray for forgiveness.

I believe a best-selling author once wrote that, "Real life is messy and inconsistent." Even so, shouldn't that be all the more reason why it's so important that people choose to make a difference and stand up for what they believe in? If a belief in the ideal of 'right' is childish, then I would dearly like to know what it means to be an adult. As opposed to what we've been told, it has never been a case of, "Gosh, the world would be a neat-o place if only..." but more along the lines of, "The world _can_ be a better place. And here's how..."

Granted people are free to criticise the Rangers all they want - one of the wonders of living in a democracy - but before we give the critics their five minutes in the spotlight, let's hope they've got something better than, "We can't trust the Rangers because they're so young." If the sky is falling, I know who I want at my back, age be damned.

The Power Rangers have had an amazing career in superheroics so far, and who can possibly imagine where their adventures will take them next? I think the only certainty is that wherever the Rangers go, for better or for worse, we'll be following right behind. Go team!


	15. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Arrested last night, Anderson pleaded guilty to seven counts of first degree murder," Kimberly read, holding the daily paper and leaning against the console beneath Zordon's plasma tube, "as well as countless other charges including kidnap, arson, conspiracy to commit murder and grievous bodily harm. He may also be the first ever person charged under new supernatural crime law reforms, currently on the agenda in parliament. Sergeant Thompson of the Caloundra Police Department said that he'd like to thank the Power Rangers, saying they were instrumental in apprehending the vigilante."

"That was sweet of him," smiled Trini.

"Yeah," nodded Zac, turning to the Grey Ranger beside him. "Ian, give your father a hug for us next time you see him."

"Anderson will reappear in the District Court for sentencing in two weeks. In somewhat related news," continued Kimberly, turning the page, "noted civic libertarian James Pratt was treated last night for a broken nose after being caught in the battle between the Rangers and the vigilante. He spent the night in Caloundra Hospital for observation, and should be released sometime today."

I couldn't help it, I looked away and raised my hand to stifle a giggle.

Kim turned to me. "That's not funny, Peter," she said, with a tiny smile herself.

Tommy took the paper from Kim and turned back to the front page. "There were about a hundred witnesses including the twelve of us who can attest that Ryan and Fury were one and the same," he said. "I think he's gonna be away for a long time."

Jason nodded. "And probably solitary confinement too, judging by the kinds of people he murdered."

Billy turned to Teresa. "Do you think he wishes to atone for his crimes?"

Teresa shrugged. "I couldn't say. But I think it's a safe bet that Fury is gone for good. Ryan did seem pretty genuine."

"I agree," said Ian. "At least now he can spend some time getting serious help. The guy had issues, and a whole lot of them."

Scott nodded. "It's a good thing then," he began, with a glowing look at Teresa, "that we got through to him when we did."

"Indeed," boomed Zordon's voice, and we all looked up to him. "You twelve did a very good thing last night. Putting aside your personal objections, you worked together to solve a mystery and stop a murderer, as well as forcing a man completely consumed by hatred to confront his own humanity, and thereby end his killing spree. Jason, excellent thinking by contacting Anderson's family."

"Thanks," replied Jason. "I figured everything Anderson had done as Fury was about his family. That was the moral core we could reach. If we couldn't have stopped him, I knew that seeing his family would've frozen him in his tracks."

Zordon nodded. "You performed above and beyond your duties as Rangers, all of you, and I'm proud of you." Everybody smiled, and Zordon looked down to me and continued. From the expression on his face, wherever he was, he was massaging his temples. "And Peter? Next time, try not to beat up the innocent bystanders."

Sarah shook her head. "Boys," she sighed.

Brendan turned to her. "I represent that remark," he said, with mock indignation.

Kimberly laughed. "At least we can start enjoying our holidays. Only a week into them," she said.

"And I can finally start on that stupid English essay," said Tommy, and then paused. "Am I that enthusiastic about homework? Somebody hit me..."

Zac smiled. "Well if you want something to do, I went past the Youth Centre on my way in today, and it looks like Ernie's organising some kind of benefit for the Red Cross."

"For the earthquake victims in Taloqan," nodded Trini. "That's right, I heard it on the radio this morning."

"He is?" asked Brendan. "Awesome! I mean, cool..."

"Well since we're fresh out of supervillains," said Kim, "and the world isn't in danger of exploding or anything, we should go help."

We all agreed, and as everybody began saying goodbye to Alpha and Zordon and teleporting back into Caloundra, Scott picked up a folder lying on a nearby console, and carried it over to Teresa.

"Hey sis, wait up," he called.

Teresa smiled. "Well I wasn't going to leave without you," she replied, as Scott handed her the folder. "What's this?"

"The other night, I overheard you and Peter talking outside," Scott began. "Alpha and I did a bit of digging...we, uh, we thought you might want to know..."

Teresa opened the folder. A man looked back at her from the top of a stack of photos. He looked to be middle-aged, with his family beside him and his house in the distance. She recognised him instantly. The man in Taloqan she couldn't save.

"Scott, I don't understand..."

"His name was Ahmad Afshar," Scott said. "He actually worked for the council of Taloqan, that's why we were able to find a photo. Here, check this out," and reaching over, he pulled the photo from the top of the pile. Underneath was a picture of two young men, both of them with the same smiles as Ahmad. "He had two sons. The eldest is Zahir - he's the one on the right - and the youngest is Shah. Those were the two boys you saved."

Teresa blinked away sudden tears, and looked up to her brother. "Scott, I don't...I don't know what to say..."

Scott remained silent, reaching over and revealing a third photo. This one was a shot of a woman, carrying a young girl in her arms. "Ahmad also had a wife and daughter, who were both out when the earthquake hit. They were visiting relatives a few streets away - you and Jason and Peter ended up saving their lives too, Alpha and I checked."

Wiping away tears, Teresa leaned forward to hug her bother. Scott smiled and returned the embrace.

"I heard what you were saying," he said, "and I just don't want you to think that you messed up, or that you didn't do enough."

Teresa smiled. "You are the coolest big brother ever, you know that?" she said. "Even if it is only by five minutes."

* * *

"So," I began, as Jason and I wandered down through the city with a handful of yellow leaflets each, "where does Ernie want the rest of these fliers put up?"

"A couple in Sunland Shopping Centre," Jason replied, "some by the arcade down at Golden Beach, and I think he wanted us to drop into the Suncoast Daily office as well."

I nodded. "Cool," I said. "We can stop there first. It's on our way through town."

But that gave me pause, and I stopped and looked out over the bustling streets before us. This wasn't just 'town', it was _our_ town. Safe again.

"Hey," said Jason, turning back to me with a grin, "we gotta lot of work to do."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," and I quickly jogged forward to catch up.

We passed the same electronics store we'd walked by two mornings ago with Kimberly and Billy. The televisions in the window were still tuned to the twenty-four-hour news channel, and they were currently playing another earthquake story. The journalist was interviewing a family of bruised and battered survivors, all of them covered in bandages and several with broken arms and legs. A pile of rubble in the background looked to have once been their home, and in the foreground, a smiling young boy was talking with the reporter.

_Hang on a minute_...

"Jason, that's him!" I cried, leaning in close and pressing my face against the window. "That's Timur!"

"Wow," he said, gazing in wonder at the televisions. "Small world, huh?"

Timur was talking excitedly to the interviewer, his large brown eyes shining. And almost immediately, Jason and I realised he was talking about _us_.

"...they came in giant machines," the subtitles read, fighting to keep up with him. "They were so bright in the dark, and so strong and fast. The red one said they were not angels, but they rescued my father and Kheirudden and all of my friends. What else could they have been?" Overcome with excitement, Timur stepped backwards and wrapped his arms around his father's waist, the man smiling and playfully ruffling his son's hair.

"Wow," I murmured. "Even after everything he lost, we still gave Timur a small spark of..."

"Hope," finished Jason, nodding slightly. "I just wish he'd stop calling us angels. That's kind of embarrassing."

Hearing a tone in Jason's voice, I turned to him. "Are you okay? You sound a little out of it."

"Just tired, I think," he replied, turning to me. "Long week. And that night in Taloqan, I guess it's all finally catching up to me. I've been putting it off all week, but now..." He sighed. "I just hope the world doesn't need saving any time soon, I don't think I've got the energy left to do it."

"Well, we still are in a way," I said, holding up the posters Ernie had assigned us earlier that morning.

Jason nodded. "You know I hadn't even thought of it like that. You're right."

"Of course I am," I grinned. "Who needs superpowers to save the world anyway? We can do it just like everybody else."

Jason glanced back to the screen, to Timur's joyful face, and smiled. "And for the moment, I guess, that'll do just fine."

The End.


End file.
